Obsessions & The Dangers of Fame
by KaterinaPetrova
Summary: *AU* Elena Gilbert is a gorgeous international pop star, but when her tour bus mysteriously crashes, she is held captive by a very dangerous blue eyed fan. To survive his OBSESSION with her, she may have to put on more than a good performance.
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

She had no idea she had even fallen asleep until she was chucked violently off of her delectably soft 1500 thread count egyptian cotton sheets and landed on the ceiling with a thump.

_Wait..._

_The ceiling?_

Yes, the ceiling!

It was all happening in slow motion. She could see it all so clearly. First, the lace trimmed lamp rolled off of her night stand and slapped against her arm. Seconds later followed her armoire, as it slammed into her stomach and rested its weight there maliciously. Her bed was next, falling on top of her armoire, all of them adding ridiculous pressure atop her petite figure and and crushing her harshly as her mind fell into an oblivion of her surroundings. One by one, she watched as objects in the room she had come to know so well fall on top of her cruelly. She couldn't see. She couldn't think. The pain felt like a dream.

She was barely holding on.

That's when she heard the screams. Men screaming. Pounding noises of all kinds. Her head was beaten dangerously, she could feel the blood pour out and drip stickily through her hair and across her face.

She didn't know how many gashes she had. She didn't know how deep they sliced through. She couldn't check, but she knew. It was all coming to an end.

Pain. Noises. Confusion.

She heard someone approach her. She couldn't make out the person's facial features or figure out who it was, but she somehow knew that she wasn't safe. After spending the last three years of her life being protected and told that everything was done for her safety, she had finally been exposed to danger. She felt the person's arms wrap around her and lift, releasing her from her heavy prison. Large sized muscles flexed against her delicate arm and she knew it was a man carrying her. She was vaguely aware of her head as it lolled back lifelessly. She felt as though needles were pricking her everywhere, sticking themselves into every pore in her body, and it became harder and harder to give her lungs air. The man was moving. She was moving. He was carrying her somewhere.

She gathered the last of her air to scream, but no sound came out. Instead, her heart grew tired of pumping blood through her crushed veins, damaged arteries, and pummeled skin.

Elena Gilbert's eyelashes fluttered silently closed and she finally found her peace, away from the pain.


	2. Chapter 1: Do You Wanna Piece of Me

**Chapter One: Do You Wanna Piece of Me**

"Elena! Elena, over here! Elena! Right here, Elena!"

Photographers screamed at the rosy lipped beauty. Camera lights flashed brightly and reflected off of her silver-sequined mini dress.

Elena Gilbert was a star. She was the epitome of gorgeous, and she wasn't afraid if everyone knew it. She had true star quality; not a person in the world wasn't enchanted by her sultry voice and hooky songs. She was invited to nearly every party, opening, and event across the globe, and before she left L.A for her world tour, she was cutting the red ribbon at the grand opening for Sony Music's new record label. Her second album, "Opps, Now You Think I'm In Love," had just been released, and it had already sold an astounding 2 million copies in it's debut week! She had beaten out Taylor Swift as the best selling artist, bought herself a brand new Mercedes Benz, and now, Elena was preparing to board the tour bus that would showcase her talents all across the globe.

"Elena, we have to leave now if we're going to make it to Arizona on time for tomorrow night's show," Alaric Saltzman, her manager, stated as he appeared from behind and grabbed her forearm gently, ushering her away from the cheering crowd. They could hear the president of SONY starting up a speech about how "rewarding" it was to have such a fantastic building in such a fantastic city. Elena kicked off her heels as she followed her manager's lead toward the parking lot. Alaric stopped midway into the lot and climbed hastily into a midnight black limo, leaving the door open for Elena as she confusedly climbed in behind.

"I thought the bus would be here? Why are we taking the limo?" Elena asked her manager as she buckled her seatbelt. She had thought that she was going to cut the ribbon, and then get straight onto her bus to start her second world tour. Changing plans so abruptly only caused complications.

"We.. had some concerns about how the evening would play out and John and I thought it would be best if you didn't board the bus directly off of the red carpet," Alaric said flippantly.

"Oh." Elena knew what the concerns were. Alaric and John, her agent, were afraid of fans sneaking onto the bus. That had been happening a lot lately. Crazed fans were everywhere, it seemed.

Everyone wanted a piece of Elena's life. Even if it was as simple as stealing toilet paper from her tour bus or taking pictures of her through windows on their cell phones.

Before they were caught and and fined, or arrested, of course. Whichever Stefan decided they deserved.

Elena loved her life, but between her demanding label, management team and security department, she was just suffocated. She had a fake life. She never go to do what _she_ wanted, only what other people told her to do. At 17, she was too young to be spending 8 hours daily in the dance studio, only to go straight to recording sessions and then take care of the interviews, photo-shoots and other various obligations before being shuffled off to a hotel room to prepare for the next day's tasks. Elena had her whole life already decided for her, all because she chose to pursue what she loved.

* * *

As the limo pulled up in large parking lot of a local Walmart, Elena peered out the window in excitement. Elena's team had apparently conversed with Walmart and ensured a boarding site, because the lot was clear of any and all civilization. There were only a couple of cars surrounding the posh, interiorly glamourous double decker bus that Elena would soon begin the next six month's of her life on. She knew to whom every familiar car belonged, and when her eyes fell upon the one of her aunt's, her insides leaped with joy.

Elena's Aunt Jenna was waiting for her by her bus, bright and eyed and excited and always to be with her niece. That's how Jenna had always been, regardless of Elena's fame or fortune.

The long, noir limo came to a stop and Elena slid out as her aunt enveloped her into a passionate hug. The two relatives hadn't seen each other for months, and when Elena had called Jenna and told her she wanted her to come with her on tour, Jenna had been more than happy to oblige. Things could get lonely while on tour, and it was always wonderful for her to have someone with her who was truly close to her heart.

"Jenna! I'm so glad you're coming!" Elena greeted her aunt.

"I'm happy too!" Jenna said giddily. She pulled back from the hug and grasped Elena's shoulders as she looked her deep in the eyes. "Your mother would've loved to do this; Elena, I know she's proud of you," Jenna said lovingly and beamed at her neice.

Elena's mother and father had died in a car accident just after Elena had signed her record deal, and as much as Elena had cried and pitied herself, she knew how excited her parents had been for her, and they would have wanted her to continue. They had worked so hard and sacrificed so much so that she could sing, and she didn't want to throw it all away because of her own inner weakness. So she danced. And she practiced. And she lived her life for other people so that she could honor them, even in their death. That had been almost three years ago, but the memory of their tragic end _always_ continued to haunt her, no matter what she did.

A voice from behind her broke her of her thoughts.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but there's been a change of plans with your schedule. You and your aunt, along with your bus's driver will be in your usual bus, but your dancers, band, hair and makeup team, and the rest of us will not be coming with you." Elena turned around to look at the speaker, Alaric, and gasped.

"What? You're not following me in your buses? I can't preform without a band and my dancers, and how am I supposed to get anything organized without all of you there..."

"Elena, don't be foolish." Alaric cut her off, lifting a palm up in the air to stop her ranting. He was wearing tinted sunglasses, a black suit, and was clutching a walkie-talkie in a very business-man-meets-secret-agent type manner.

"Of course we'll all be there," he rolled his eyes, "but we won't be following directly behind you."

Elena blinked a few times and considered the idea that she might be going deaf. Why would her team 'not follow directly behind her?' Where were the group of people that relished in following her and "keeping her safe?" She couldn't possibly preform if they managed to somehow get split up and arrive in different towns all the time.

"What?" the confused popstar asked again. She knew she sounded daft, but she could hardly believe her ears, never the less censor herself for intelligence.

Alaric sighed. Apparently he wished that she _would_ censor herself for intelligence.

"I'm going to be honest with you. I don't mean to cause a scare, we_ are_ going to be sending a couple cars of security out behind you while you travel, so you don't have to worry about that. However, we need to make sure that you are safe, and many people are aware that five pristine white buses in a row spells Elena Gilbert's 'Opps Now You Think I'm In Love' tour, and with the public already aware of your performance dates and times, it's not wise to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves," he lectured, like she was an incompetent five year old. "Especially," he added, "because of the unfamiliar streets and highways. But, don't fret, there's nothing to worry yourself about. Just don't panic when you don't see a line of buses behind yours in the rear-view mirror. Now, that's all, so get on your bus, relax, and practice for tomorrow."

Elena managed to nod and hide her fury at being dismissed as Alaric half-hugged her awkwardly and pulled out his cell phone before dialing a call and walking away.

"Well. That's a lot of information to learn the _day_ before you kick off your USA leg of the tour," Jenna laughed, trying to lighten the mood, and failing.

"Yeah," Elena sighed, "I'm sort of used to it by now. They think the paparazzi are going to get me while I'm sleeping or something." She scoffed disbelievingly. "I'm so overprotected."

"Elena, Elena, this is all going to get some taking use to, but you'll be okay. Everything happens in your best interest. Besides, how can you even mind? Your manager is _so_ cute!" Jenna squealed, dropping her mature facade momentarily and Elena flashed her a smile.

"Ahh, yes, the classic aunt-falls-for-the-pop star's-head-of-management thing every teen experiences." Elena remarked coyly. The two climbed onto the bus and Elena gave her a quick tour of the expensive vehicle they would be living on for the time being.

Jenna seemed genuinely content with spending time with her regardless of what was done, but Elena had a feeling that her aunt needed some time to settle into the change of scenery and get used to her new life, so Elena grabbed two bottles of water from the kitchen and spun around towards the staircase.

Handing Jenna one politely, Elena gave a quick departing speech. "I'm really kind of tired Jenna; I'm going to kind of chill out and read for awhile, but let me know if you need anything... or if the phone rings!" Elena smiled as she headed to the bus's second floor, where her bedroom was. Jenna's was on the bottom floor, and she was no doubt going to have fun with the water bed, upon her discovery of the liquid filled mattress, of course. Elena smiled to herself. Her Aunt could be such a child sometimes. Then again, she guessed that that's what makes her such a great person. Her aunt held onto her childhood.

Elena would have no problem forgetting hers.

* * *

She had no idea she had even fallen asleep until she was chucked violently off of her delectably soft 1500 thread count egyptian cotton sheets and landed on the ceiling with a thump.

_Wait..._

_The ceiling?_

Yes, the ceiling!

It was all happening in slow motion. She could see it all so clearly. First, the lace trimmed lamp rolled off of her night stand and slapped against her arm. Seconds later followed her armoire, as it slammed into her stomach and rested its weight there maliciously. Her bed was next, falling on top of her armoire, all of them adding ridiculous pressure atop her petite figure and and crushing her harshly as her mind fell into an oblivion of her surroundings. One by one, she watched as objects in the room she had come to know so well fall on top of her cruelly. She couldn't see. She couldn't think. The pain was intensified beyond belief.

She was barely holding on.

That's when she heard the screams. Men screaming. Pounding noises of all kinds. Her head was beaten dangerously, she could feel the blood pour out and drip stickily through her hair and across her face.

She didn't know how many gashes she had. She didn't know how deep they sliced through. She couldn't check, but she knew. It was all coming to an end.

Pain. Noises. Confusion.

She heard someone approach her. She couldn't make out the person's facial features or figure out who it was, but she somehow knew that she wasn't safe. After spending the last three years of her life being protected and told that everything was done for her safety, she had finally been exposed to danger. She felt the person's arms wrap around her and lift, releasing her from her heavy prison. Large sized muscles flexed against her delicate arm and she knew it was a man carrying her. She was vaguely aware of her head as it lolled back lifelessly. She felt as though needles were pricking her everywhere, sticking themselves into every pore in her body, and it became harder and harder to give her lungs air. The man was moving. She was moving. He was carrying her somewhere.

She gathered the last of her air to scream, but no sound came out. Instead, her heart grew tired of pumping blood through her crushed veins, damaged arteries, and pummeled skin.

Elena Gilbert's eyelashes fluttered silently closed and she finally found her peace, away from the pain.

* * *

**A/N: She's not dead! Don't worry, you'll see what happens.**

**I wrote a new story! :)**

**There are some Britney Spears references in here, hehe:)**

**It's AU, but I tried to keep it as realistic as I could to the original Vampire Diaries plot, so I kept all of the same characters and just altered their identities a bit. I hope everything isn't too confusing, but if you have a question, just ask! There's going to be a pretty thick plot in this story, just how I like 'em, so let me know if it gets to confusing, because it messes everything up if no one can understand it!**

**I'm still going to write 'Taken,' but I really wanted to try something AU out.**

**Tell me if this sucks, though! I like honesty! :)))**

**~KaterinaPetrova**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN _THE VAMPIRE DIARIES_**


	3. Chapter 2: Overprotected

**Chapter Two: Overprotected**

"Thirty minutes to curtain," yelled the lights and effects station.

Elena's back-up dancers were already on stage doing a pre-performance run-through, without the main act. The hair and makeup team that had been flown in from Ken Paves's Florida office were glancing around impatiently, worried that they wouldn't finish be able to start styling on time, nevertheless finish. Alaric and John were frantically dialing the popster's bus driver, hoping to get some sort of reassurance that Elena would make it in time. The man in charge of the sound station was pacing back in forth, waiting for Elena to come to sound check so he could adjust her microphone. But out of all of the people who handled Miss. Gilbert's life, no one was more worried than Stefan Salvatore.

Elena Gilbert's bus was supposed to have arrived two hours prior, and the most disturbing thing was that out of all of the five cars of security tailing the bus, none of them were responding to their phones, radios, _or _walkie-talkies. Every single one of Elena's personal security agents had been personally trained by Stefan himself, and they were well aware of the consequences of not responding to the main base's attempts at communication. They just wouldn't do it; they would lose their jobs, and possibly serve jail time for endangering the superstar's life.

"I can't believe they're late, I'm going to personally ruin Bonnie Bennett's life," muttered John as he stepped away from his computer and began his attack on the bus driver's personal life.

Alaric Saltzman spun in his chair nearby frantically, biting his fingernails and tapping his feet subconsciously. "This is terrible. Even if she walked through that door right now, we still wouldn't have time to get her ready. She'd have to go on stage without a microphone and in her day clothes. And who _knows_ how many times she'd mess up her routine. She hasn't even had a chance to run through it_ once_ on this stage. We might have to.."

"We might have to do, _what_, Alaric?" John glared at him angrily. There was no option of canceling the show, it was Elena's first concert of the tour, and if news got out that she didn't _show up _for it, the media would begin the rumors of the most recent 'downward spiral of a child star' up again.

"This is terrible." Alaric repeated as he ran his fingers through his hair and pulled viciously. He was desperately trying to get his mind on something other than potential failure.

"Yeah! You keep saying that. I'm going to actually try and get something done." John got up and made a dash for the door. With one phone call, he would have helicopters circling all of Arizona in no time. Hopefully, one of those helicopters would locate Elena's bus and escort her to the Phoenix, Arizona arena.

What John didn't know, however, was that fifteen minutes later, Elena's bus would be located. And the news, wasn't pretty.

* * *

Elena opened her eyes slowly and inwardly thanked the heavens that her room was dark. Her head was rattling and her eyes were so fuzzy, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to see even if the lights _were_ on. The brunette gave a weak yawn and stretched on her bed, hoping to go back to sleep. Instead of drifting off into a quiet slumber, however, she bolted upright and screamed.

She wasn't on her bus anymore. She wasn't preparing for her concert, either. Instead, she was in a strange, dark room after being crushed under her bedroom. Yes! Crushed under her own bedroom. Well, her traveling bedroom that is, but her bedroom none the less. What had happened after that? Had someone found her? Saved her? That _had_ to be it.. But where was her hero? Did they bring he bring her to a hospital? 'NO, hospitals don't have king size beds Elena,' she thought to herself. Then she remembered an alarming detail. What had happened to Jenna? And Bonnie, her bus driver?

Before she could mull over her frantic thoughts any further, a sliver of light appeared in front of Elena and she squinted to find the source. It was a lamp. Someone had turned it on at the very far end of the room.

"You're awake." The voice sounded like it was coming from all over the room.

"Where am I? Where's my aunt?" Elena rushed the words out, only partially able to speak. Her throat was dried out to the absolute maximum and she felt like she was going to puke, despite having no food in her stomach what-so-ever.

The voice seemed to ignore her questions. Instead of answering her, a man appeared and walked closer to the bed, stopping there to and stare at her. It was too dark to make out any distinguishing features, but, he was strongly built and tall, and by the looks of it, he was _not_ in fact a hospital nurse.

The girl felt a sudden panic sweep over her. What was she supposed to do? Elena Gilbert did not get into these kinds of situations. Elena Gilbert was a beautiful, talented, successful girl who had the world at her fingertips. All she had to do was do what she did best; sing and dance around before smiling for pictures. All the rest, other people dealt with. But, if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was to perform, and she had a feeling she would need to draw majorly from her acting skills to get out of this pickle. After all, she had no idea where she even was! Or, who she was with.

"What happened to me? Am I backstage at my show?.." Elena started hopefully, sincerely doubting the thought, but the mystery man cut her off anyway.

"No."

"Oh. Can you tell me where I am?" Elena asked meekly. From what she knew about reverse-psychology, the scared little girl act went along better than the arrogant celebrity.

The man sighed and turned around. Elena was afraid for a second that he was going to leave her alone and lock her in or something, but he flipped a switch on the nearby wall and looked back at her. The teenager gasped. The man was gorgeous. More than gorgeous. He was absolutely stunning. His dark hair was messy and fell perfectly over his crystal-like eyes, and his white t-shirt did little to cover his bulging muscles. He looked like an Armani model, and Elena tried not to drool.

At her reaction, the man chuckled dryly. Apparently, he was used to being oggled.

Elena glanced around her nervously. She was lying in the bed of a very open master bedroom in a penthouse. Glass walls overlooked a downtown city and luxury smiled up at her from every inch of the area. She relaxed inwardly. Of course! She must have gotten stitched up at the hospital and taken here to rest. The only thing that didn't make sense was the timeframe and the lack of people around her. If she had fallen asleep while she was reading.. why had it been an entire day before she woke up again? Unless the bus crash left her really messed up and the hospital gave her something to sleep through the pain. But in that case.. she would have cuts, bruises, the works. Where were all of her injuries?

Pushing her worries aside, Elena searched for more information.

"Do you work with my label? We're waiting until a limo comes so we don't have to drive by photographers without tinted windows, right?" She smiled hopefully/

The man eyed her curiously. It looked as though he was searching her for something, and when he didn't find it, or did, he walked closer and sat on the edge of the bed. Elena reacted by pushing herself farther away from him. 'It's just a habit, a way to keep my own space,' she told herself.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about photographers for awhile now." He stated, sounding bored as he started eying her again.

"What?" The brunette said, disbelievingly. She couldn't just stop her tour because of a simple accident! Speaking of the accident, what had happened? "Where's my aunt? Is she okay?"

"Your aunt is fine, if you choose to keep her like that, anyways."

Elena gulped. "I don't understand; what's going on? Who _are_ you?" Despite his incredible looks, Elena was confused beyond comprehension. What the hell was happening? And why wouldn't he give her a straight answer, dammit?

"My name is Damon, and I'm your number one fan." He grinned crazily and the pop star's stomach lurched. She tried to control her breathing, but she felt herself going into breakdown mode. She hadn't had a panic attack in years, not since she had heard that her parents had died in the car accident. Not since she learned that her brother was in a drug induced coma. The singer's heart speed up rapidly and she began shaking as worry after worry flooded her mind. She felt rather than heard "Damon" wrap her into his arms, whispering reassurance that everything would be okay.

"We were meant to be together, don't worry, shhh."

Elena broke. Her fight or flight mechanism kicked in and she chose both. Taking "Damon" by surprise, she wiggled out of his grip and kicked him roughly in the stomach before making a break for the door. She heard him fall to the ground and she speed out the door, down the steps to the main floor of the penthouse and through the mini kitchen and lounge to the main door. Just as she grabbed onto the handle, she felt rough hands grip her arms harshly and throw her to the floor. It happened in mere milliseconds, and the girl's heart picked up faster and raced once more. How had he gotten downstairs so fast? It seemed _impossible_ for anyone to recover and catch her that quickly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he spit out menacingly, his eyes lit like fires.

"What.. what do you want?" Elena sobbed out. She knew that celebrity kidnappings usually revolved around money, but she hoped somewhere deep down that he'd just say an autograph and let her go.

Instead, he knelt down on his knees and grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling it backwards and forcing her to look him in the eye. He brought his lips close to her ear and stroked her cheek lightly before whispering one, single word. The scariest word of all.

"You."

* * *

A deep black camera pointed itself steadily into the young blonde's face and Tyler Lockwood, her assistant, steadied the microphone to hand directly over her as she gave covered the news story that had the potential to promote both of the interns to permanent positions at the popular news station.

"This is Caroline Forbes of Channel 4 News reporting to you; We have the story. A shocking accident involving America's sweetheart has left many confused and worried for the pop princess's life. Just forty-five minutes ago at 7:05pm, Elena Gilbert's tour bus flipped over while she was on her way to preform her first concert on her second album's world tour in nearby Phoenix, Arizona. Her bus was found via helicopter search when she did not show up to her concert this evening. As you can see from the pictures, her bus along with five cars belonging to whom we presume to be her bodyguards were found rolled over Highway 59's signature mini cliff. So far, it is clear that there was something on the road which caused the bus to turn sharply and plumett, however we are unsure how all five of the cars behind followed suit. The most unsettling part of this incident, however, is that Elena Gilbert and the others affected have not been located. There has been a search for the starlet and her security agents conducted, but there have so far not been any discoveries. Tune in later for updates and more information on Channel 4 News. Because remember, if we know, you know." The blonde smiled and waved as the camera clicked off and the microphone was lowered.

"Great job, Caroline! We've got ourselves one hell of a story!" Tyler and his partner smiled at each other giddily as they walked back to their news van and set up their post. As they unloaded a couple more cameras to get more footage of the site, a black mercedes rolled up and two very pissed off pop star managers slid out of the vehicle.

"John, John, John, calm down. _We_ have to stay calm, we know that no one else is going to." Alaric stated, attempting to reassure his buisness associate.

"Alaric." John shot him dagger eyes. "I will _not _calm down. Elena could be dead for all we know! This is a catastrophe! What are we supposed to do? Please, tell me. No number of special security agents, no matter how large, can locate a dead body buried on the beach in Cancun. Plus, we still have to release an official statement! Good Lord, get someone on that, will you? Ugh. This stuff only happens to us." John muttered under his breath.

Alaric rolled his eyes at John's selfishness, but pulled out his phone to contact another member of Team Elena to work on a statement.

No one knew, however, through all of the commotion, that Stefan Salvatore had already been to the crash site, before the helicopters had even arrived. He was the one who had hid the bodies of the dead security guards, and he was the one who knew that what had happened could only be the work of one. The three years that Stefan spent protecting the girl that he secretly loved had not stopped the thing that he feared most would happen.

His brother Damon was back.


	4. Chapter 3: Stronger

**Chapter Three: Stronger**

Thoughts raced and worries ran rampant as Elena tried to comprehend her current situation. Staring into the misleadingly attractive eyes of someone so dangerous only made her anxiety soar all the higher. Her mouth quivered slightly as she lowered herself to begging.

"Please..." Elena pleaded. "Tell me where my aunt is."

Damon released her hair and pulled her steadily up onto her feet. She shook rapidly under his clutches and he smiled darkly, enjoying her fear.

"Why don't I do one better?" He watched her, sickly happy as her eyes widened in obvious terror. When he gripped her arm hard and pulled her forward, leading her away from the door, Elena's shaking unsteadily increased.

He dragged her behind him relentlessly, not even stopping when he heard her whimper softly in pain at his rough grip on her forearm. Elena watched as the living room disappeared from view and she was guided down a hallway on the other side of the penthouse. Damon halted her in front of a double, oak-doored closet, and she wondered why she hadn't seen it before, when she was running down the stairs. The closet was large in size and created a dark shadow across the floor, bathing the surrounding area, the kitchen in complete darkness. Elena imagined that, in a different setting, the intricately detailed closet could have been almost beautiful.

Her captor increased the pressure on her arm as he slowly reached out to swing open the doors of the closet. Once he had done so, Elena looked onwards in mild confusion, but it was soon replaced with anger as she took in the site of her aunt, blindfolded, gagged, tied up, and laying still on the floor behind the doors.

She gasped, emotions running rampant. "Jenna!" She squawked, and attempted to leap to her aunt's rescue, but Damon held her back.

"Jenna, no! Jenna!" Elena kicked and shook her head furiously against Damon's sturdy arms, but his strength never wavered. "Let me go! What did you do to her?" Questions spewed from her lips like an atomic bomb, deadly and serious.

Damon ignored her questions and Elena turned her head around and looked up at him through her lashes as her eyes began to water profusely. "How could someone be so.. so .._mean_?" She whispered painfully. Damon's tough persona dropped momentarily, and he stared at her in awe of the affect that the emotional girl had on him. Elena took advantage of that moment to rip her arm out of his grasp roughly.

"Look." She spat out, suddenly all business. "I don't know who the hell you are, or what you want, but you let. her. go."

"I have a better idea. You'll do whatever I want, or I'll make sure she doesn't wake up from this little sleep of hers."

"No! What.. what did you do to her? Jenna!"

Elena's hysterics continued and Damon, exasperated, decided to end the tantrum swiftly and effectively. He gripped her hair tightly and with one fluid motion slammed the back of her delicate little head on the door. That's all it took for the blackness that overtook her to settle in immediately.

* * *

Damon ran his hand slowly down the glossy magazine photo of Elena sunbathing in Costa Rico. She looked absolutely delectable in her creme colored two piece Shoshanna Gruss original. She really was the most gorgeous creature he had ever laid his eyes upon, besides _her_, of course, in all 180 years of his life. He made himself a silent promise that he would always protect her. He would never let her go. And someday soon...

* * *

Pulsing.

Itching.

Irritation.

Fuzziness.

Headache.

Nausea.

Pain.

All of this and more circled around Elena's swollen head as she struggled to steady her ragged breathing. She rolled over and pulled herself up with moderate difficultly and reached a hand up to stroke her sore scalp. Tired and reaping the benefits of frayed nerves, Elena staggered out of bed and began her descent downstairs to her custom detailed, gourmet French-style kitchen to make Orange Creme coffee and nibble on a chocolate chip scone. It was only until she tripped over her own feet and was sent sprawling down the spiral staircase that she discovered that her formerly forgotten habit of sleep walking was apparently no longer forgotten.

For the first time in three years, Elena Gilbert had slept-walk. For the first time since her parents death, she had tripped back into the traumatic cycle that would only bring worry and confusion.

The last time she had been sleepwalking, she had almost turned on her personally Martha Stewart-approved blender with her _hand_ stuck into it.

_Yeah_. Smart, right?

She had no control while sleep walking. Anything could happen, and it was a dangerous game to play with her life. Another time, she had almost flipped herself over the banister and fallen to her death in her Palms hotel suite. Neither of which woke her up. Both of those times, Jenna had been there to save her, and now it was time for Elena to save Jenna.

Now wide awake, Elena knew what she had to do.

She had to do _anything_ to ensure that her aunt lived. If she could just get her aunt home and safe, then maybe, just maybe Elena could be too.

* * *

**A/N: It's been so long since I updated, I hope no one forgot about this story! Thank you too everyone who alerted/favorited this story. I appreciate everyone who takes time out of their day to R&R Taken&Obsessions:)**

**I don't know.. I've been thinking about it and I think I'm actually going to go down a different road then I originally had planned. I hope no one hates me for what's about to unfold, but I want this story to be different from my other D/E fic. They sort of have similar plots and after struggling with writers block on both stories, I just got the best idea on how to change this one up and make it really... interesting! **

**I don't want to reveal too much, but it's going to have a pretty surprising turn of events, so bear with me while I lay down the foundation!**

******FYI: I have decided to base this fanfic around a Matlock episode in which a bride is kidnapped on her wedding night by another man who is obsessed with taking her for himself. Most of the layout from here on out actually happened in the hour-long special, so if anyone finds this strangely familiar.. there you go! **  


**~KaterinaPetrova**


	5. Chapter 5: Kill the Lights

**Chapter Five: Kill the Lights**

_She didn't know it was me. I shook her hand and stared into her eyes and she didn't know it was me. She didn't remember how I loved her. She didn't remember seeing me every single day in the hallways at school, or remember how I stared so dreamily at her during lunch. I knew she loved me though. I knew she needed me. She wanted me to keep her safe, to love her. And I was ready to do that. I could keep her safe. And I would take her one day, but for now, I would protect her. I would be right there with her, every single day, keeping watch. She will look at me as her savior, every time some wild maniac throws themselves at her, I'll save her. I'll kill anyone who comes near her. And she will be my love._

_I remember our very first conversation, right before her parents died and she was still in regular school. She was still an everyday girl, not famous yet. But to me, in my eyes, she was already a star. She was fourteen, and I was seventeen, frozen in time forever._

_"Hi, is anyone sitting here?"_

_It was lunch period, and she wanted to sit next to me. Out of all of the lunch tables in the cafeteria, she wanted to be with me. We weren't even in the same grade, but she came to me. She was biting her cute little lip. She looked so shy, and I knew I liked her right away._

_"Uh, no, no one." I answered immediately._

_She sat down then. Put her books on the desk. Opened up her folder with those tiny little hands. She must have seen me looking at her because she turned to give me a smile. Those precious ruby lips stretched across miles of pearly whites. Her eyes lighting up in excitement, and the tiny dimple on her chin._

_That was when I knew. I would do whatever to be with that girl. I've waited so many years, seen so many decades, and I finally found her. And my opportunity came when, 6 months later, her label started searching for a body guard._

_It was so easy to get the job. To get close to her. Of course, I didn't really need to train for it. I could compel anyone in my way. There were_ lots_ of people in my way. Everyone wanted to make sure that I wouldn't hurt her. People doubted I would be able to handle the job. They said it was difficult. That lots of people interacted with her every day and I had to make sure that I was there always to be her shield. They were all so stupid. To think for even a _second_ that I would let anyone near my Elena was idiocy. For three years, I have made sure that she is okay. And now my brother is threatening to destroy what I have been building for so long. I wont let him hurt you, Elena. I will save you, my love._

* * *

**MISSING**

**Elena Gilbert  
**

**Eyes: brown  
****Hair: dark brown  
Height: 5'6 1/2  
****Weight: 105 lbs**

Last seen departing from the California Walmart location on 4101 Crenshaw Blvd in Los Angeles. If you have any information about where this girl could be, please call the following number.

**1-555-MISSING**

These posters were everywhere. EVERYWHERE. And yet, no one seems to have any _valid_ information about where the young Elena Gilbert could be. Sure there were joke calls and the spotting of random girl who looked somewhat like Elena, but all in all, it had been almost an entire 24 hours since Elena Gilbert went missing and it was still a bizarre mystery as to what could have occurred.

Alaric and John were making phone calls like crazy men to set up time slots where all of the talk shows would spread news and awareness about Elena's disappearance. New stations all over the world were running the story back to back, and everyone was in a frenzy trying to locate one beautiful, important girl in a sea of turmoil and confusion. But somewhere far away from all of the angst, a little brunette girl who fit the description above was crying on the kitchen floor of a luxurious penthouse belonging to a fellow named Damon Salvatore.

Elena couldn't stop crying, but she knew she had to. She was upset, yes, but if she didn't collect herself soon she would miss the one opportunity she had to carry out her plan. She had originally planned to _pretend_ to breakdown, and in the confusion of her kidnapper trying to comfort her, she would ask to go lie down in the living room for a couple minutes. She would say that she just needed some time to herself to soak everything in. She would even bring that stupid plate of breakfast to create the illusion that she actually wanted something that belonged to that bastard near her. Here's the thing, though. She must have been too _good_ of an actress, because all of a sudden she was letting the fake tears fall and they became real tears. And now she couldn't stop crying and crying and she thought that the room might flood with her tears and her eardrums would burst from the sound of her whails. Everything from the previous years came back to her and she just let it all out for the very first time. She tried to be strong for so long, but it didn't matter. In the end, she had so little control. The final straw was being taken like this. She had been stolen like some sort of keychain from a gas station.

But then, suddenly, she felt herself being carried, and she knew once and for all that it was the same man that had crashed her bus and carried her away to this godforsaken place, where ever she was. She felt herself bob along with him and saw that he was in fact carrying her into the living room where she had tried to run through to escape the first time, before she knew he had Jenna.

She could locate the window for sure now. He wouldn' even notice she was gone until the police broke in to arrest him and rescue Jenna. He wouldn't even have the _opportunity_ to hurt her, she would be so quick! She began to calm down and her tears slowly subsided. She opened her eyes to find herself sprawled across a comfy plush couch, Damon kneeling beside her, wiping her tears. Wow. She hadn't even felt him put her down. But, she tried to brush that off. She was just scared and unsettled, that's it. She wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings anyway. Who could be expected to in a situation like hers? Plus, I mean, what other possibilities were there?

She focused. He was looking at her again with that weird look from before. He was trying to be comforting, she guessed. What an idiot.

'Think, Elena, think. Put your plan in action.' she thought.

Except, just as she was about to say something like "I think I just need to be alone for a second," or "Thank you, but I just need a moment to myself," he started talking to her.

"It's okay. You don't ever have to do it again. I won't ever let them take you back. You'll be okay."

Elena paled.

She decided she hated the sound of his voice, so sexy and conniving. The devil can be anything he wants to be, she thought. Charming or repulsive. And Damon Salvatore, he was both.

"What are you talking about?" she mumbled, trying to make sense of his craziness.

"Those damn slave drivers. They think they can push you around whenever they want. Well, not anymore. You never have to do a thing they tell you to again. I'm here. Shhh, it's okay."

He was whispering to her. Soothing whispers. But she didn't feel soothed. Because she knew what he was talking about. Alaric and John. What was he going to do to them? Oh no. That's when she remembered all of her security guards. And Bonnie. What had happened to them when the bus crashed? She hoped for the best, of course, but she knew in her heart they wouldn't be alive. Psycho's don't leave witnesses, and even if they sometimes do, if he had left them alive, they would have found her by now. No. Her friend Bonnie was gone. They people who spent their lives keeping her safe instead of being with their families were gone. She tried not to think about how they would never see the light of day again. Or play with their children, or smile. She had to be strong. She had to save the life that she still could. Her aunt's.

Damon was rocking her now. Back and forth. Holding her in his arms. How did she get there? She didn't know. She felt like stabbing him, hitting him, killing him even. She hated him. But she couldn't wiggle out of his grasp because then he would know what she was about to do. She was about to leave this place once and for all.

She knew Jenna was still in the closet, but what if she was injured or nearly dead as well? Oh GOSH, it was making her crazy. She knew what she had to do. She needed to climb out the window and get help from the nearest person possible. That was Jenna's only chance. And it wasn't going to be easy.

She was in the top floor penthouse of some building, after all. Climbing out the window wouldn't mean that she could plummet onto soft grass and run across the street to the police station. No. Climbing out the window on this floor meant she would have to balance herself on the ledge of the outside of the building and slowly crawl down rock climbing style until she was in front of the window to a neighboring suite. Of course, since the penthouse suite took up the whole top floor, she would have to gradually move downwards until she was at the floor underneath her, where there had to be some sort of balcony she could climb drop onto.

Except, this wasn't exactly rock climbing. If she fell, she would fall to her death. And really, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe she deserved to die for putting her aunt in such a terrible situation, and causing the deaths or injuries of all of those people _just_ because she pursued music and some crazy man decided to kidnap her. But if she did fall, her dead bod would eventually alert people in the building, including Damon, and he would kill Jenna for sure.

So, she did the only thing she could do in this situation. The only thing left that would save her plan, and Jenna. She leaned back and looked up to see her captor's baby blue eyes staring straight at her. She reached up to grab his face and kissed him, hard.

**I know it's been so long since I wrote a new chapter. I'm sorry. I'll ALWAYS finish what I start though, rest assured. So, if I get positive feedback (5+ reviews) I'll update again tomorrow!**

**R&R!**

**~KaterinaPetrova**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.**


	6. Chapter 6: Slave 4 U

**Chapter Six: I'm a Slave 4 U**

Out of the corner of her eyes, Elena surveyed the room. The ceilings were high, almost as tall as the ceilings in the lobbies of Four Seasons hotels. The furniture was very modern and the color scheme was silver and black. The staircase looked like steel of some sort, as did the detailing around the penthouse. She snuck a peek at "Damon" and noticed that his eyes had snapped open. He was watching her. The kiss deepened and she tried to focus on her objective. She wasn't in a very good situation. She had heard of delusional men and women stalking celebrities, but never kidnapping. It was all so confusing. How in the world had he gotten rid of all of those cars tailing her? How had no one else on the road seen him? Maybe they did see him, she thought. Maybe they got a good look at him, but they just didn't know where he could have taken her. Yes, that's it. The world was searching for her as she sat here, making out with the person who took her in the first place and did something horrible to her aunt. Elena hoped that they'd find her soon. She prayed that she didn't have to carry out this charade for much longer. After all, she was just a child. A little girl at heart thrust into a dangerous, life and death situation. She didn't know this man from atom. He could be hiding a razor blade behind his back as they kissed, waiting to strike. She felt nauseous. Except, she didn't have the luxury of thinking about how unfair this all was. She had to be strong, just for a little while.

Step 1, complete. Step 2, here I come,' she thought warily.

Elena abruptly pulled back from the embrace. Damon didn't look surprised like she thought he would. He stared back at her, knowingly. Like he knew what she was doing.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I'm just _really_ confused. A little shaken, too, that's all. Can I please go see my aunt? I'm so worried about her."

**BAM!**

Elena jumped off of the couch. Damon's fist had connected with the coffee table beside the couch, and the entire thing split open and fell apart. It had happened in an instant. She hadn't even see him do it until the whole thing was in pieces. Scared out of her mind and worried that she was next, Elena ran across the room and searched for a place to hide. What had set him off? 'Who knows,' she thought. He was just a downright crazy person. He was wild and uncivilized, sure, but Elena was most frightened by something completely unconnected to that.

Damon had been doing weird things this whole time, and they were all finally adding up in her mind. First, he had managed to deter all of the unmarked cars holding her security guards, and then to topple over her huge tour bus with her inside. He had run _so_ fast to grab her when she had tried to run away. And now, he had some sort of wacky super strength. No man could have destroyed that thick mahogany table with just a tap of their fist. No one could have run that fast to catch her, either, especially when she had incapacitated him first. Finally, it was absolutely impossible to be as handsome as that stupid man was. And that was when she knew. Damon was the devil. And he was probably running around killing all of the angels in the world, herself included, one by one.

Elena finally reached the staircase and ran up as fast as she could without looking back. She needed some time to think things through a little. She was feeling absolutely overwhelmed and needed just a moment to hide herself away. Elena thought back to her sleep walking incident and foiled escape attempt and tried to remember which rooms she had seen on her way downstairs both times. She was going to try to find a place to hide in one of the upstairs rooms and possibly search for a phone while he was looking for her elsewhere. Elena ran down the hallway and threw open the door to a room she thought she had remembered seeing ajar earlier. She thought she had seen the edge of a desk indicating that it possibly lead to Damon's office or something similar, which would surely have a phone, right?

She barged into the room and shut the door behind her, taking a deep breath of air and sighing in relief that she was safe. For now. Except, when she turned around away from the door and surveyed the room, it wasn't an office. It was the bedroom she had woken up in earlier. Damon's room. And who was sitting on the bed smugly? None other than her kidnapper himself. Shirt off, just reclining there, looking as though he had been there all along. But she knew the truth.

"I see you've found my bedroom. What do you say we make use of it while we're in here?" He grinned slyly and motioned for her to come join him.

Elena was repulsed. I mean, yes, he was excruciatingly attractive, but at the same time he sickened her. Who was this horrible man who thought he could kidnap anyone he wanted and injure his victim's family members? The more she thought about it, the angrier she grew, and she couldn't control her rage any longer.

She stepped towards him with a venomous glare and prepared to tear him to pieces.

"Don't you know that there is something wrong with you? I'm sick of walking on egg shells around you! I don't even know who you are, and you think you can just do whatever you want to me and my family! I'll tell you something, "Damon," there _is_ something seriously wrong with you. I know what you are. I know that you're not only crazy, but a monster. Some sort of demon, or maybe you're the devil himself. Whatever you are, I don't want anything to do with you, so give me my aunt, and let us go. Because if I stick around you one more second, I might just _vomit_." She stood still now, shocked that she was able to come up with such hatred for a man she barely even knew. She wondered briefly about how worried everyone must be about her. Her fans were probably heartbroken.

At the end of her rant, she was seething, and it felt good to get all of her anger out. She was staring straight into Damon's eyes, and she saw them change abruptly from amusement to full fledged fury. She suddenly found herself pinned to his bed, and she knew he had used his strange speed to get them there. He pressed his half naked, incredibly gorgeous body tightly against hers and she was momentarily distracted. He was so hot, with his ripped muscles and shaggy black hair and contrasting blue eyes. Her body fit perfectly into his and she had a sudden urge to kiss him again, for real this time. Before she could do anything hasty, though, her saved her from the embarrassment and and bent down to whisper in her ear.

"I don't think you understand,_ Elena._ There is absolutely nothing stopping me from taking you on the floor right now. In fact, what do you think about maybe making your little auntie watch?"

If anything could shake her out of her trance, that certainly did. Elena glared back at him spitefully and began trying her best to wiggle free from his grasp.

"You wouldn't," she spat back at him.

He glared right back at her.

"Wouldn't I? Don't test me, Elena. The only thing keeping that deadweight alive is _my_ wish to do so, and that could change at any time. I sincerely suggest you shut that annoying little mouth of yours or it could end up very, very badly for the both of you."

Damon rolled slowly off of her and laughed when she tried to make a break for the door. His apartment was designed with safety in mind, and the door had automatically locked behind her when she first came in. She couldn't get out.

"Don't you know what I am, Elena? Come on, think about it. I'm not a demon. You could only wish I was something that benign. I'm something far, far worse. I'm fast, and I'm strong, and I'm better at everything a human can do by a hundred fold. Most of all, though, I'm forceful." He smiled with his perfect white teeth and Elena stepped back until she could feel the door against her back.

Damon continued.

"I feed on human blood and I kill for my own enjoyment. So what am I, Elena? Come on, guess."

Elena stuttered for a little while before she finally regained her voice.

"I.. I don't know." Of course she knew. Of course she did. But she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want it to be true.

"I'm a vampire." He answered for her. "And I bite... hard." His bright blue eyes glistened with excitement as he approached her slowly, predatorily.

Elena could feel tears stinging in her eyes again, and she tried her best to hold them in, she didn't want to let him know that she was intimidated by him, even though she was sure that he could tell anyway. She tried to focus on her goal. She couldn't incite him anymore, she determined. She couldn't rile him up again because he would kill her for sure. Or would he? Why would he go through all of the trouble that he went through to kidnap her if he was just going to kill her? Maybe he wouldn't kill her. Maybe he had some other sick plan for her.

She shook her head wildly and looked down at the ground, wishing that she was anywhere except for where she was now.

He kept coming, though, and suddenly he was there in front of her, looking down into her eyes with an emotion that Elena couldn't decipher. He put his hands on her hips and she had to use every muscle in her body to prevent herself from shrugging him off. She was scared out of her mind. Damon knew this, and let out a short chuckle.

"Oh, please. Quit the frightened little girl act. We both know you want me. What happened to the girl who kissed me like a maniac downstairs just a few _short_ minutes ago?" He was smirking at her. Smirking!

"Why are you doing this to me?" She asked softly.

Uh oh. A tear slipped out and rolled down her cheek.

He brought his hand up and wiped away her tear. She couldn't stop thinking that it was the hand of a vampire, a murderer. She had thought that it was impossible, and that it only happened in books and fantasy. Apparently, she was wrong, and her heart was racing with fear. Would he feed on her? Damon led her slowly to his bed and sat her down.

"If you hadn't have wrecked our beautiful moment downstairs with talk of your silly little relative, none of this would have even happened, love." He started running his hands through her hair and she tried not to gag. A part of her wished she would gag though, the part of her that felt little butterflies.

She continued softly. "I don't understand what you want from me. I told you, if you want money, I'll give it to you. You can clear out all of my accounts. Just take me to the bank and I'll.."

He cut her off.

"Look around, Elena? You think I suffer from a lack of money?" He laughed. "I'm a billionaire. I can have anything I want. And I wanted you, to answer your question. I wanted you..." he moved closer to her, "...and so I took you. It was as simple as that."

She frowned and felt her sadness diminish. She started feeling the fright set in again, hard this time, but she didn't have to say anything else, because he kept talking.

"I'm sure you're upset about your aunt, yeah. But we can help each other out here. Tell you what. I'll make you a promise. I'll return your aunt safe and sound to her house in Virginia_ today_ if you do something for me.

Elena looked up and nodded. She was relieved. She could save Jenna after all.

"Whatever you want, I'll do it. Just make sure she's okay."

Damon smiled. Everything was running smoothly. Elena had fallen for his plan exactly like he knew she would.


	7. Chapter 7: I Wanna Go

**Chapter Seven: I Wanna Go**

"Good. I want you to make a phone call. To your agent. John Gilbert. Tell him you want to quit; that you don't want to do this anymore." Damon stared at her intently, his eyes serious and his words rehearsed. The shirt he had taken off earlier lay across one of the chairs in his bedroom, and Elena stared at it stupidly.

She was dumfounded. She couldn't do what he wanted. If she made that phone call, everyone would stop looking for her! The media would just write her off as another mental runaway child star overwhelmed with her responsibilities and looking for a way out. And then... then.. she would be stuck here with this crazy man forever! How did she ever somehow accumulate a vampire fan? How many vampires existed? What did he do to her aunt? What would people think of her if she told them she was just quitting?

"I... I can't do that. Think of all the people I would be letting down. They rely on my work to feed their families! Please, just think about it! The backstage set up crew, dancers, producers, they'll all be out of a job! I can't..."

"Be quiet. This is your only opportunity. Say that you ran away. Tell him that everyone should stop looking for you because you don't want to be found. Do that, and I'll release Jenna."

"But.."

"This is your only chance. I'll leave you to the decision." Damon stood up and crossed the room quickly, sliding open a drawer in his armoire. Elena's mind was spinning with a million different thoughts, but out of the corner of her eye she saw what Damon had pulled out from the drawer. Swim suit trunks.

Why did he grab a swim suit? Was he going to strangle her with it? Or smother her perhaps? Maybe he would light it on fire and throw it at her.

'Oh stop, Elena. You're being paranoid. You can't give up yet. Your priorities are Jenna and yourself. Don't think of anything else.'

Elena focused on that mantra even when Damon stepped out from the closet where he had been changing and revealed his crimson red swim trunks. He grabbed the shirt from before off the floor and slid that on, too, before walking out the door of the bedroom without giving her a second glance. Elena deciphered that when she had first run into the room to hide from him, he had already begun changing, and that was why he wasn't wearing a shirt. She let out an sigh of relief. At least she knew he wasn't going to rape her. Yet.

Suddenly, Elena got a an idea. Unless Damon just felt like lounging around in his swim trunks for the rest of the day, he had to be going to a pool somewhere, right? And since pools are not typically present in the middle of apartment suites, expensive penthouse ones or not, he must have gone downstairs to swim in the building's pool. Maybe he had left her all alone here, and now she could search for some answers. Just in case, she tried the door to the bedroom one more time, but just as she had suspected it was locked. Next, she scanned the bedroom and looked for a place to search first. It was intimidating being in his room alone. She was scared that she might find human blood in the drawers or body parts stacked in the closet. Maybe he had a thing for keeping his victim's skulls, like in some horror movie she seen about serial killers.

'Focus, Elena. Focus,' she thought.

Her eyes fell to the long shaggy black rug in the front of the room, and she turned around to look at the metal side tables detailed with pitch black painted cherry wood. They each had a little pull out drawer, and Elena approached them cautiously, slowly opening the one on the left side of the bed. The only things inside were a notepad and pen and some trivial little knickknacks. To reach the next one, Elena jumped across the dark colored birch wood panel platform bed, but her foot caught in the edge between the mattress and the bed frame and she tripped and slammed her knee into the floor. Falling forward, her elbow caught against the edge of the silk curtains and pulled it away to reveal an inch of a window.

'That's right!' Elena thought. 'When I first woke up in this horrible place, there were windows wall to ceiling all over the penthouse. He must have closed the drapes so I couldn't guess where he was keeping me!'

Rubbing her wounds with a wince, she pulled the curtains all the way back and stared straight ahead to see a beautiful view of the most orderly city she had ever seen. She had overlooked the view the last night when she had woken up in here, but there were tall buildings parted in the middle as far as the eye could see. The modern looking clear glass wall was very hotel-esque, and Elena suddenly thought of an idea that might help her.

She could try to break the glass, or at least look for billboards that might tell her where she was. She could even signal to the people below and maybe someone would recognize her. After all, in conjunction with her mega-star success, she had also had to have been declared a missing person by now. So even if people didn't recognize her for being the multi-millionaire 17 year old pop singer, they would know her face from the various new stations and papers that _must_ be running her story worldwide. Elena immediately abandoned her snooping and began to wave her hands back and forth in front of the wall-to-ceiling window. She began to get so excited, thinking about her rescue, that she didn't think of one minor detail.

Elena scanned the crowds below and realized that she was way to far up for anyone to see her. She was on the upmost top floor for crying out loud! it wasn't as though people walked around with telescopes peering into people's windows!

Sighing in defeat, Elena moved away from the window and searched for the restroom. She had to go badly! She couldn't remember going since she was kidnapped! How long ago was that? Could her organs burst?

'Ick.'

She knew that one of the doors on the left side of the room lead to his gigantic walk-in closet, the other to the hallway, and the last one must be his in-suite restroom. After using the bathroom, she went to the counter to wash her hands. That was when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Her mascara had run horribly down her face from the tears, and her eyeliner was smudged up to her eyebrows. She looked like she had been in a train wreck. In a way, she sort of had been. She was wearing the same outfit from the day of the crash.

The bubblegum pink fitted top with puffed sleeves that she had gotten from Saks the week before was stained with some sort of liquid in the back. Her Lilly Pulitzer sandals didn't look too shabby, but her feet looked swollen and unkept. Her 7 for all Mankind jean skirt was torn down the seam and nearly falling from her waist, and her ponytail had fallen a long time ago, revealing her matted hair. How had she gotten so flithy? Had some sort of mud tree fallen through her bus and onto her during the crash? It was a mystery to her. All she knew was that she looked like a ghost of herself, and she needed to fix that or she wouldn't be able to do anything else.

How had she not noticed before that she was in such bad shape? Why didn't her dirt clad clothing leave marks where she sat down? Maybe they had, and she had been to preoccupied with her current situation to notice. It was certainly forgivable. It wasn't every day that she was kidnapped by a vampire and forced to resign from her job, in addition to worrying about Jenna's life.

Jenna. Was Damon feeding her? How come she had looked so still when Elena had seen her in the closet? Could it have been just a mannequin? Elena hadn't gotten such a great look at her face; it could have been some sort of doll. On the other hand, it could _truly_ be her aunt, and if Elena didn't make that phone call and give up her career, Jenna would be killed.

Elena put her worrying aside. The next time she saw Damon she would tell him that she accepted his terms, and she was ready to call it quits. But she also wanted him to explain every last thing that Jenna encountered during her "stay" with him and to make sure she was in the same 100% healthy and safe condition as when he, er, acquired her.

Elena sat down on the bathroom floor and covered her face with her hands. How had things gotten so bad so quickly?

Suddenly, she was broken from her thoughts by the sound of the bathroom door opening. She hadn't even heard anyone's footsteps. She looked up to see Damon, as dry as he was when he left standing in the doorway staring at her. Elena took a deep breath and noticed that he was holding some sort of metal part in his hands.

"I brought you this. It's for m shower. I had to get it out of the closet in the hall, and after I found it I figured you could use some more time." He wore a grim expression, as if he knew she had seen her reflection and he was sympathetic.

Elena licked her lower lip and smoothed her clothing the best she could before replying uncertainly. She certainly didn't want to set him off. It seemed even the littlest thing she said made him go crazy! What was wrong with him? She took a deep breath.

"Why are you in your swim trunks?"

Damon smirked. "Because... I'm going to give you a bath of sorts. You look horrible, if you haven't noticed." He started walking towards her and Elena felt herself take a step back. How could she get herself out of _this_ mess?

"I'm not going to hurt you. You can come here," he whispered, beckoning her to his side.

Elena carefully approached him, not knowing what else she could do without making him foam at the mouth with anger. What was she going to do! Waiting for any signal that might tell her that he was lying, she walked forward.

Damon smiled at her strangely. It was almost innocent really, but Elena knew better than to believe that. She stared at the contraption in his hand and then lifted her gaze to look at him warily.

"Uh, thank you?" Elena watched him like a hawk, ready to run at any moment. She continued "Yeah. Thanks, really. Except, I can't shower. When you, uh, _borrowed_ me from my bus, I sort of left all of my clothes there. So, I don't have anything else to wear. Sorry, I guess I'll just have to stay like this. I mean thanks, though, it was nice of you to offer." She set her mouth in a straight line and watched for a reaction. She had tried to phrase that as kindly as she could, given the situation. The truth was, obviously Elena didn't really want to stay in these horrible clothes. But it was better than him _bathing_ her. What was she, a cat? Elena waited for him to answer. She really wanted to ask about her aunt. Considering it hadn't worked out so well the hour before, though, she was willing to wait. At least a couple minutes anyway.

Damon just kept on staring at her for a few more seconds. Elena twitched uncomfortably. Finally, he answered her.

"Don't worry. It's not what you think. You need my help though, trust me. I have a very high tech water system. And about the clothing, I brought your things from the bus. Didn't I tell you? I guess you were too busy thinking about your little relative to listen." Damon stepped towards her until she was about two feet away. He showed no malice in his tone, just honesty.

Elena didn't have a choice. Plus, this would be the perfect opportunity to try to convince him to give her information. She nodded her head.

"Okay. Okay, I'll make the phone call to John. If it means my aunt is safe, I officially quit."

Damon grinned widely; creepily, and handed her a two piece deep blue cutout bikini from her bus wardrobe. It wasn't exactly modest, but she knew she had skimpier suits. And at least he was going to let her _wear_ a suit.

Elena reached her hand out to take the bathing suit, and watched as he respectfully left the room for her to change.

The shower/bath tub that required two people to work was the least of Elena's worries. This was only her second day "here", but one specific question was already lingering in her mind.

What was he going to do to her?

* * *

"I want her found, now!" Alaric screamed into his iPhone as men and women scurried behind him on the "Good Morning America" set.

He had just finished filming _another_ shout out about Elena's disappearance, and he had been encouraging stupid little kids that he would find her all morning long.

Despite recent events, the previous night's concert had actually turned out okay. Once people in the audience found out that Elena Gilbert, America's Angel was missing, everyone immediately volunteered to search for her and spread the news. Hopefully, she would be tracked down in no time. Better yet, not _one_ person had asked for a refund!

Even so, this whole "missing" thing could only hold up for so much longer. Alaric knew very well it was nearly impossible to find someone once they've been gone for more than 72 hours. He needed to push harder if he was going to locate his missing superstar.

Additionally, he knew very well that the news programs would eventually move on from Elena's story. Even though she was an international superstar with plenty of fans, money, power and recognition, people _would_ give up hope someday. It may take a few long months, even a year, but it was inevitable that if they didn't find their client soon, Alaric and John wouldn't be able to ride her money train for much longer.

He sighed and started ranting even louder. The incompetent USA Watch Team captain on the other end of the phone muttered out a few non-distinct words in reply before agreeing to send out more search parties and hanging up. Alaric rolled his eyes and angrily shook his head.

"I swear, if it was up to me, I would whip these fools periodically to keep up their motivation," Alaric grumbled to himself. He pocketed his cell phone and stalked out of the building, taking the short cut out the side to the parking lot where his car was stationed. He headed for P2 and squinted up at harsh sun.

It was a nice day, blue skies and sunny atmosphere, as was the norm in California. Somehow, though, Alaric felt as though there were storm clouds lined up all around him, because he was starting to get a very bad feeling about this day.

First, the men he hired to look for a _missing person_ for goodness sakes were being snotty to him. They were just SO lazy! They kept yapping about how they were _thirsty_... WAH, WAH! Then they started spouting out stuff about needing to take a break to eat. Right! Well, those slackers could take as many breaks as they wanted to. _After_ they found Elena.

Secondly, Alaric's phone kept ringing. RING, RING RING. All freaking day long. It was just _so_ annoying. Everyone felt like they needed to call him and "give their condolences." As _if_ he wanted to talk to useless people that were just holding up his telephone line! What if someone needed to contact him about his missing money bag, duh!

Alaric shook his head bitterly in disgust. People could be so stupid.

At that moment, he heard the familiar chirping of his cell phone. Another call? His point exactly! It was probably another idiotic..

Alaric's eyes flickered to the caller I.D. It was John calling. Alaric knew John like the back of his hand. Was the that saying? Anyway, John mostly only talked about important things. Maybe it would be good news about Elena.

He pressed talk and brought the device to his ear.

"Hello? Any news?"

He didn't get the reply he was expecting. John was in hysterics.

"News? I've got some damn news! I just got a phone call from Elena! She said she ran away on purpose to QUIT!"

Alaric froze, not sure he was hearing correctly. "WHAT? But her cell phone was at the scene of the crime! Are we supposed to believe she just faked her death and those of her guards and driver?

John continued, unaffected. "Look Alaric, I have no idea man. All I know is, we need to keep this quiet and keep looking while we try to convince her otherwise. If word gets out about this.. this QUITTING, the news will flock all over it. Everything we've worked so hard for... and she kinda danced a lot, too... will mean NOTHING."

Alaric nodded, listening. "I get it. No longer will she be "Miss American Dream." She'll be the little devil who got the nation in utter chaos and managed to run off with lots of other people, too!"

John paused on the other end of the telephone. He had just realized something. "Alaric, you just brought up an amazing point." John scratched his head for a moment. Maybe Alaric wasn't such an idiot after all.

"Elena _couldn't_ have just run away to quit. There are lots of other missing people, too. Not that we care about them, obviously, but they had to have been abducted _with_ Elena! Someone coerced her into making that call to me! We can trace it and figure out where she's being kept!"

The two men smiled. "Of course, that's the only explanation that fits the scene of the crime. Looks like we're one step closer to finding our girl, John."

* * *

The green eyed citizen smiled knowingly.

Little did those men know, there was someone listening in on that call. Someone who happens to be the head of Elena security team. Someone who had known Elena Gilbert since he had gone to school with her. This someone was going to find the little missing Elena before anyone else did, and reclaim her for himself from his evil, blue eyed brother.

Stefan...

was obsessed.

But there was no one to blame but little Elena, I'm afraid. Everyone knows the dangers of fame.

* * *

**A/N:**

**SURPRISED? I think so. I bet a lot of you thought it was Damon who was the creep behind the scenes, huh? **

**"But wait a second.." You might ask yourselves. "Why was Damon the one to kidnap her then, and he said werido things to her, too! Plus he gets really mad for no reason."**

**Well. That will all be answered. Soon. **

**By the way! SO many fabulous people read and favorited my story! Thank you so much! :D**

**BUT! Out of like, say.. TWO AND A HALF THOUSAND PEOPLE, only a couple of people reviewed! Please do take the time to write a review. I work really hard and spend lots of time on this and I really appreciate when people leave feedback so I know how to adjust my story where it needs it. Plus, it gives me smiles and inspiration for future chapters! **

**Maybe.. If I get lots of love, every chapter here on out will be this long! **

**LOVVEEY DOVE-DOVE**

**~KaterinaPetrova**


	8. Chapter 8: Shattered Glass

**Chapter Eight: Shattered Glass**

"Wow."

Wow was right. The federal testing lab had just confirmed a set of fingerprints that were salvaged. They had come from evidence found on the crash site of Elena Gilbert's highway disappearance. Although this was certainly a breakthrough in the case, the results were puzzling. It seems that the fingerprints didn't belong to anyone in the world! Of course, minus the convicted felons and current jail residents, it seemed as though the person involved had never been documented authentically into the government system. This did happen occasionally, rarely, with midwife born hippie's offspring, but it was unlikely. Not many people wanted to hide themselves from worldwide recognition. Dr. Isobel Flemming scratched her head. This was going to be a long, interesting day. She leaned forward in her chair and pressed the talk button on her office telephone. She had to alert the media right away, any update could help locate the missing girl. After all, Isobel's daughter herself was a huge fan of Elena Gilbert. Anything Isobel could do to help would be greatly appreciated by not only the Elena's family, but the world.

"Hi, yes, Channel 4? I would like to speak with your top reporter. I'm from the USA federal testing lab and I have an urgent update on the Elena Gilbert case"

"Yes, m'am' that would be Miss. Caroline Forbes, one moment please, I'll connect you."

Isobel tapped her clad foot against the floor underneath her cherry accented desk impatiently. After endless ringing, someone on the other end picked up.

"Hello, Channel 4 News. My name is Tyler, how can I help you?"

"I'm Isobel Flemming, calling from the United Sates federal testing lab. I'm looking for a Caroline Forbes, may I speak with her?"

"Actually," the man continued, "I'm her partner, Tyler Lockwood. Anything you need to say to her you can tell me. We work on all of our projects together anyways. I'll definitely pass the information along."

Isobel rolled her eyes.

"Look, this is a confidential.." She didn't need to finish. Caroline had apparently walked in and pried the phone from "Tyler's" hand.

"Hello?" I'm sorry for the confusion, my partner is on phone duty these days." Caroline giggled.

Isobel repeated her information for the third time and hung up after explaining in depth the latest findings she had uncovered. Hopefully, news would spread about this "fingerless" man and she would be able to update her new friend Caroline appropriately. In turn, the media would give them any information they uncovered that might help them catch the perp before it aired.

They judgment was tough, but Isobel knew in her heart that they would find the missing girl.

* * *

Damon looked his captive up and down in her deep blue cut out bikini. It would definitely suffice for what he had planned. He opened the glass door to SilverTAG shower and gestured for Elena to step inside. He had to admit, she already looked better for getting out of those awful clothes. He hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings, but she really looked horrible. Of course, it was his own fault. When the bus had crashed, her beautiful flower vase had fallen on her and coated her with dirt. Her outfit was also ruined by the many other things that had fallen on her. Luckily, all was healed with a little drop of his blood here and there.

As Elena stepped inside the shower, Damon followed suit and motioned for her to take a seat. He explained that he had one of the most high tech showers in the world. The one of a kind customized shower had 18 shower heads and a dozen different modes depending on his relaxation needs. In this case, he would need to set it to "submerge." This was a special mode that plugged up the drain and filled the entire shower with warm water until the person was completely submerged. Then, the cleaning tools were tapped and the person inside was thoroughly cleansed and invigorated, similar to a car wash. The person was left with a feeling of tranquility similar to what one might receive after a trip to the spa, except the experience was heightened times ten.

It was a unique and very expensive shower system that was specifically created for Eurotherapy clients all over the world. Damon had only had it for a few months, but he was just now getting a hang of how it worked. He hadn't wanted to leave Elena all on her own trying to figure it out. A couple more buttons and the cleaning was activated. Hoses of water rained down and products were flying everywhere. Damon took this opportunity to step out of the shower and leave a baffled Elena Gilbert behind.

The brunette became frightened and tried to open the door, but Damon put his hands up to reassure her.

"It's okay, I'm right here. You just take your time and when you're done it'll stop."

Elena nodded. At least she knew why Damon was wearing a bathing suit, too. It was impossible to even look inside this thing without getting absolutely soaked!

As the water began to splash Elena's heart was doing pitter patters. Out of fear, not love, rest assured. She hadn't even noticed this scary contraption when she had first come into the room, and now she was trying it out for a test drive!

What was Damon trying to do? This machine looked like it belonged in the year 2100, not 2012.

'Maybe Damon forces all the girls he kidnaps inside of here,' she thought.

She turned his back on his grinning face and tried to keep herself calm. It was nearing noon time for sure, Elena was overjoyed that she didn't have to worry about Jenna anymore. She knew that her aunt would be okay. Now, she just had to think about her own life at stake. Elena made herself a mental note and finished her shower enthusiastically. She knew she had to pretend to be in a good mood if she was going to get away from her captor without raising his suspicions.

As Elena stepped out of the shower and into the fluffy white towel that Damon held out to her, she breathed in deeply and turned around. She had read about victims like Elizabeth Smart before that had endured all sorts of horrible things while being captive. She knew that she needed to ask Damon some questions, and if he didn't give her any answers she'd have to take a different approach.

Just then, she caught sight of her reflection as the steam cleared. She had made a complete 360 since before the shower. Her cheeks had some color back into them, her hair was clean and vibrant, and her skin was shiny and clear. She didn't want to admit it, but she looked better than she had since before she went missing. It was true, she loved her job. But it also brought her a lot of stress and pressures, both external and internal. If she hadn't been abducted by a vampire and was possibly fighting for her life, she would enjoy this little vacation of sorts.

'Oh, what am I thinking? Of course I would never enjoy this. This man is sick.' Elena tried to convince herself, but deep inside, she did find him sort of cute.

Okay, really cute.

But, look! He was obviously psycho! Just like Ted Bundy; looks can be deceiving.

As she dried off, Elena noticed that Damon had left the room. She guessed that she had been a little deeper in thought then she had suspected. Or maybe he had just used his super vampire powers to speed away.' Elena thought with chagrin. It was going to be hard to wrap her mind around this whole supernatural thing.

"Here are your things. When your ready, just join me in the kitchen, I'm going to start lunch." Damon said, poking his head into the bathroom to hand her some clothes he had picked out.

Elena nodded meekly, reaching her hand out to take the items.

Damon continued. "... Unless, of course, you would like me to stick around. You know, I've heard I'm really good and dressing girls. And.. undressing them."

She rolled her eyes as Damon and shook her head as winked at her flirtatiously before stepping away.

What was going on here?

Rummaging through her fresh items, Elena peeled off her wet swimsuit and dropped it on the floor. She was giddy with the simple pleasure of clean clothing, and knowing that her aunt had already been returned safely to her home. Damon had arranged all of it after she had made the phone call to John. It was difficult for her to do, but Elena knew it was just temporary. Obviously when the police found her she would be able to resume her career as she had before. Her aunt wou;dn't even be worried about her! Damon had done that weird eye thing where he had made Jenna believe that Elena was okay. It was unfortunate that she had to impinge upon Jenna the workings of a vampire, but it was better than having her worry. Elena had also gotten some answers about why Jenna had looked so still. Damon had also "compelled" her to sleep so she wouldn't cause any noise. He had been waking up to feed her often, too. It was sickening and not at all okay, but Elena did agree that it could be much worse.

'Your going to be okay. You'll get your aunt and your career back. All your fans will be so happy when you come back!' Elena smiled to herself.

'Yep,' she told herself. 'It won't be long now.'

Just as she had slipped on the powder pink capris and cream colored lace cami over her lingerie, she heard a noise.

It sounded like something had crashed. That was odd. What could it be? A fallen pot maybe? Hesitating, Elena put on a brave face. Even in her worst times, she was a curious girl for sure.

Walking carefully to the door, she slipped through the bedroom soundlessly and walked out into the hall. She came just in time to witness Stefan, her most prized and beloved security guard, step through one of the living room windows. Yes, step through the window from the top floor of the apartment building. The noise she had heard was shattered glass. Except, how had he gotten up here? He had come to save her, that was all Elena cared about.

He turned his head immediately sensing her and started her way, his mouth turned up in a cheshire cat smile.

Running forward happily, Elena screamed when she was held back by strong arms. Damon.

"Elena, don't go near him!" Damon held her forcefully, she couldn't move an inch in any direction.

"Stefan!" She shrieked.

Stefan walked closer to the couple and looked Damon square in the eye.

"I've come for what belongs to me, brother, let her go."

Elena gasped. Did this mean? Was Stefan..

Oh no.


	9. Chapter 9: He About To Lose Me

**Chapter Nine: He About To Lose Me**

Elena drew in a breath. They were related? No time to focus on that now. She had to warn her close friend about her evil captor and his powers.

She struggled against Damon's hold and resisted his hand against her mouth.

"Stefan, be careful, there's something wrong with him!" She screamed, half of the sentence muffled against Damon's hand, now secure against her lips.

Stefan began moving closer still to the two, and Damon began taking careful steps in the opposite direction. Elena tried to move her head to see where he was going, and she saw the edge of his bedroom door in the background.

Elena began screaming against the confines of his hand, trying to bite, spit and scream as loud and she could to maneuver her way out of his grasp. She had seen plenty of kidnapping stories on TV, sitting around after concerts in her hotel room. Victims rarely get such a chance at escape, and she would be damned if she didn't take it.

"Stop it, Elena!" Damon tightened his grip and she found she couldn't even move her little finger. It was painful, and her muscles ached for him to ease up.

Suddenly, in what seemed like a millisecond, she was thrust backwards out of the way as Stefan attempted to lunge at Damon.

"I said let her go, Damon," Stefan growled, his arms waving all around him in blurry action. Damon reciprocated his attacks and Elena was spun around viciously, her eyes spinning back into her head and her mind growing dizzier with each push in a new direction.

"Never!" Damon spat. "You knew what had to be done to protect her from you!"

Again the monkey in the middle, Elena, was shoved to a new corner of the open room, with Damon dodging all of Stefan's attempts to grab her and heading still for his bedroom door.

Elena tried her best to follow the fight but she was so nauseous and dizzy and achy that the words sounded muddy and foreign to her spry young ears. Damon's arms dug tightly into her sides, holding her still and she was in horrible pain. She didn't know if she was hearing things right, whether everything was as it seemed. Why would Damon say he was protecting her from Stefan? Stefan was the one who had protected her for all of those years. She struggled to breath as the air was being knocked from her. She was pulled at supersonic speed across the living room, her eyelids fluttering defenselessly against her face.

Suddenly, she felt Damon's arms leave her body and she collapsed into a heap on the floor where she was released. She could still hear the angry voices nearby and tried her best to zero in on her surroundings. Elena struggled and was able to focus on the outlining of what appeared to be the door to Damon's bathroom. She turned her aching head slightly and was greeted by the view of his california king bed, shaggy rug and other furnishings.

She felt her wet hair clinging to her face in tangles, matted in the back from where she was pressed up so tightly against Damon.

She breathed slowly and steadied herself against the floor, sitting up and resting on her knees. She could hear all sorts of noises, like things were breaking and flying and crashing all over. Looking over, though, all noises came from outside the bedroom door, which of course was closed and locked automatically as always.

What was she doing in here?

Damon must have shoved her down in here quickly behind him to make sure Stefan couldn't get to her. This room was like a fortress with it's internal steel lined ceiling and floor. Even the glass walls that looked out into the city were coated with diamond. Elena had learned this the hard way when she tripped earlier that day and gotten the wind knocked out of her in here against all of the hard surfaces.

Considering all of this, one thing was certain. She was isolated in here while Damon intended get rid of, well, his brother. _Her _top security agent and friend for many years. Elena needed to help him. How did this happen? How could Stefan have been related to someone so horrible? What were they talking about outside?

She had heard only bits and pieces of the conversation. "...just trying to protect her." "This wasn't the plan." "...supposed to be mine." "...you knew how I felt."

Piecing them together, nothing made sense. Elena had managed to tell Stefan about Damon's powers when he had first barged in, but the scary thing was, Stefan looked like he already knew. Judging by his quick actions that matched those of Damon's, and his ability to somehow gain access to the penthouse from the outside window, Elena had some other scary suspicions as well.

Could Stefan be a vampire, too? And if so, was he stronger than Damon? Would he be able to save her?

The most dreadful thing of all, though, was a thought that lurked at the very back of Elena's mind. She remembered something that Damon had said in the very beginning. Something that Stefan hadn't protested, but had actually confirmed.

"You knew what had to be done to protect her from you."

Because, thinking back, Elena did remember some sketchy things that had happened around Stefan.

Once in particular she had recalled a time when she was being personally driven home by him from her awards ceremony. At some time during the ride, he had changed directions and was driving her miles and miles away from the specified Ritz Carlton hotel. When Elena had finally realized this she waited until Stefan had stopped at a gas station and called Alaric for affirmation. Stefan had seemed to almost have heard the call from outside the car and proceeded to drive her straight to the hotel like nothing had happened, not mentioning a word and pretending he had been going there all along. This was when he had just started working for her, maybe a few months, and was being tested out as a personal security agent.

Eventually, he had moved right up to the head of the department, overseeing all aspects of Elena's safety. After that, Elena had pretty much forgotten about the incident. Though now, she could recall many more situations like it. Times when Stefan had taken her off course intending to go in the opposite direction before someone important caught wind and he had to cease his plans. These situations, these times were very specific to Elena now. She had just now realized what they really were. Kidnapping attempts.

That's when she heard a heavy knock on the door.

"Elena? Are you okay? It's Stefan. Open the door, you're okay now."

She held her breath, white as a sheet. What had happened to Damon? Surely he wouldn't have allowed Stefan to get so close to the door unless Damon was.. incapacitated.

She didn't respond, a thousand feelings flooding her brain, unsure about what step to take next. A few seconds later, though, she heard Stefan again.

"Elena, I know you can hear me. I understand that you're scared, but that man isn't going to hurt you anymore. You can come home with me, to your rightful home, and I'll protect you there."

Pause. Elena still didn't say a word. "Rightful home?" What was he saying?

Stefan's voice touched on anger as he spoke again.

"Come _on_ Elena, come out. Didn't I say that you would be okay?"

Suddenly Elena remembered something. She couldn't open the door. Not even if she wanted to. It was locked from both ways, then. Only Damon could come in. Was locking Elena in here a final effort to keep Stefan from rescuing her, or was Damon trying to _protect_ her from him?

Elena's worry grew for Damon. What had Stefan done? Who was the bad guy here?


	10. Chapter 10: Outrageous

**Chapter Ten: Outrageous**

Elena fought with herself internally for a moment before deciding on a course of action. Should she really tell Stefan about the lock? It was the only information she had to give, but she _did_ want to take this opportunity to get some answers. Things that were blurry before were starting to get crystal clear to her, yet still she was at a loss for words at her current predicament. She had known Stefan for three years now, and yet she didn't see the signs when they were right in front of her. Aside from that, how was it even possible that his brother could harbor the same delusion about Elena that Stefan obviously had? Things were getting a little tricky, but Elena hoped that she could prevail. She knew her course of action. Sure, she had sort of been hyperventilating for a minute there and was currently kind of twitching, but so what? After all, how calm and clear minded would anyone expect someone of her situation to be? Elena guessed that she was doing pretty well considering.

She took a small step towards the sealed door and spoke cautiously amid the sounds of Stefan's pounding and pulling.

"Stefan, I can't open it. I think it's locked in here, too."

Elena heard the pounding cease.

"Well, is there a key?" His answer sounded impatient, a side of him that she knew all too well.

"I don't know. I don't think so."

"Elena, you need to tell me the truth, okay? I can't help you here if you won't let me."

"Stefan, I am telling you the truth! This door is enforced with something strong, I can't open it."

She heard him mutter something under his breath and start fingering the door's hinges. He quietly began analyzing the walls surrounding the outside of the bedroom as well, searching for a way in.

Should she tell him about the diamond coating? Did she even want _him_ to get her out of here? Elena had obviously come to terms with the fact that Stefan was a vampire too. That made her even more nervous. What had happened to Damon during the fight between the two brothers? If he was okay, why wasn't he doing anything to prevent Stefan from trying to get to her? Was he hurt? Dead? Why did Elena even care?

She felt her heart sink as she realized that if Damon was dead and Stefan couldn't get her out of this enforced room, she would starve to death. On the other hand, if Stefan did manage to get her out, she was just moving from one crazy kidnapper to another one.

After a few more moments of silence, Stefan spoke again.

"Elena, I need you to tell me something." His voice was quiet and solemn, which only heightened Elena's anxiety.

Elena mumbled an incoherent agreement and he continued.

"Do you know?" He asked it pitifully, as if he was ashamed of whatever information he was inquiring about.

Elena's brows furrowed. What was he doing? Should she play along? What was he even talking about? She tried to recall what she had read about psychology and how the brain works. Maybe she could manipulate him until she could figure out how dire her situation was.

"I know." She whispered. It wasn't really a lie. Elena knew a lot of things, including Stefan's creepy fixation on her.

"I meant to tell you. I wanted to, but after we were together, of course. I just couldn't..."

Elena waited for him to say something else, but his monologue was cut short by the sound of a sharp crack against the door. Elena listened closely as she heard the sound of two pairs of feet shuffling against the floor, and she quickly realized one of them was Damon's! Her heart soared with hope and happiness and for the first time since her capture, she didn't question her joy. She had a strange, all encompassing feeling that she was safer in Damon's arms than in Stefan's. Neither were very predictable and Damon was also possibly a murderer, but in the three years that Elena had known Stefan, she had seen sides of him that she never wanted to see again.

Noises rang from outside the door, vivid and clear despite the thickness and density of the entrance.

"BAM" Something smashed against the wall.

Damon's voice, screaming.

"I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HER AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

"I killed you! I killed you!" Stefan responded irrationally.

A struggle ensued, with various other heated remarks exchanged between the brothers.

Banging and booms and all sorts of crashes went on for at least five minutes before it all came to an abrupt stop.

Elena, who had been apprehensively standing frozen in the same spot since her conversation with Stefan was getting nervous all over again. She thought her heart would burst in her chest as it pulsed quicker than she was sure it did during all of her most vigorous pilates classes combined.

Finally, soft footsteps sounded as someone approached the door and the former popstar watched as the knob twisted slowly. Elena held her breath and closer her eyes tightly as the door creaked open and a figure stepped inside. Has Stefan gotten the upper hand again? What would happen to her now?

All of her worries ceased, though, when she squinted her eyes open to see a pair of bright blue eyes, not green looking back at her fondly.

She watched as the man's beautiful lips curved into a genuine, kind smile and he stuck out a strong hand to meet hers.

Elena watched him warily. He shook his head playfully, telling her that it was okay.

"I thought that we might be able to start again. You know, we didn't really have such a great introduction last time."

She stared at him, puzzled. He continued, grinning and batting his eyelashes as if he had never been that cuckoo man Elena was sure he had been.

"Elena Gilbert, my name is Damon Salvatore, and I would like to beg your forgiveness for this confusion. If you will let me, I have some explaining to do."

Elena hesitated briefly, but she bit her lip and nodded, taking his hand cautiously and letting him lead her out of the room.

**A/N: SHOCK! What is going on now? Confused? Me too. Just kidding. All in good time, my pretties. In other news... Yay! Officially to the tenth chapter and the story is going according to plan. Anyone get the double entendre of the door to D's room being like the tomb from season 2? Damon had created this place of his so that his bedroom was like a safe house, no one could get in or out of the door without his aid. Maybe he even has a zombie survival kit stored in a trap door in the ceiling. Hmmm..**


	11. Chapter 11: Criminal

**Chapter Eleven: Criminal**

"So... This whole thing with you.. it was just pretend?"

Damon smiled slightly, shifting in his seat.

"Yes. Again, I'm really sorry about all of this."

Elena nodded. She had been listening to Damon's story for the past half hour, and was trying to tie up the loose ends.

"I was honestly trying to protect you from my brother. I found out that he had been watching you, that he was obsessed with you. When he started making all of these crazy plans to "get you," I knew I had to do something."

"So... you decided to do the same thing?"

He didn't miss a beat as he responded.

"Again, it was just pretend. I intensely regret scaring you so bad, but it's the only way I could make it seem real."

He had been repeating this the whole time, practically. Of course he was sorry, and he hadn't _really_ hurt her Aunt. But staging this whole "thing" didn't really make it that much better.

Elena took a deep breath and folded her hands into her lap.

"How did he find me, then?"

"I led him to us. It was the only way that I would ever be able to catch him."

"I was the bait then, wasn't I?" The girl looked up at him warily, and another grim smile spread across his lips.

"Yeah, you were. That's why I had to play that whole game. There is something really wrong with Stefan. The only thing that would have gotten him off his rocker long enough to subdue him would have be something pertaining to you."

Damon paused, looking up at her.

"Thank you. For saving me, I mean. But I still think you should've told me what you were trying to do. I really thought that _you_ were the psycho."

Damon broke into a small grin and tried to conceal it.

"You thought right." His smile faded then. "Have you forgotten what I am? What both me and Stefan are?"

Elena shook her head no.

He continued.

"Anyways, I couldn't have told you about what I was planning to do. Stefan would have been able to tell if you were faking it. I had to make him think I was just as delusional about you as he is."

"Speaking on that subject... where _is_ he?"

"Nowhere he will ever be able to hurt you again." Damon put a hand on her shoulder affectionately. She brushed it off warily as he sighed.

"Look, Elena, you're safe, really. You can go back to your life now."

Damon stood up from the couch began to walk towards the kitchen.

Elena couldn't believe her ears. She was mad and all of her emotions felt as unstable as Stefan's.

"That's it then? You're just going to leave me to 'get on with my life'?"

Damon stopped walking, but he didn't turn around.

She could feel her face distort cruelly as she continued to bark at him.

"How could you be so stupid? You ruined my career! Three days with you and I don't even have a life to go back to!"

Damon turned around when he heard this. His eyes pierced into hers.

"Is that what you think?" His voice was soft, almost inaudible, but impacted her nonetheless.

"I saved your life! What did you think Stefan was going to do to you? Dress you up like a doll and tell you loved you all day? Hardly."

"No! This isn't about me! This is about you. You could've found another way to get to him! You used me without thinking for a second what would happen to me afterwards."

She sidestepped the broken coffee table from before and grabbed a lamp from the side table beside the couch.

They glared daggers at one another as Damon exploded back at her.

"If I hadn't have done what I did you would be dead! Stefan thinks he can handle his strength, but he can't! Don't you even know that he's fed on you before? How could _you_ be so stupid Elena?"

Taking in his words, Elena dropped the lamp she had been meaning to hurl at him by her feet. She stepped back slowly, then faster as she sprang towards the door. She didn't know where she was going or what she would do when she got there. All she knew was that she had to leave.

Tears stung at her eyes and everything blurred as the shiny silver handle came into view. She wanted to rip open the door and never see the hauntingly polished wood again, but before she could do anything, she was pushed towards the floor. She felt her arms being retrained above her and was flipped around to meet his eyes. They were searching hers intently, confused.

"Why are you doing this?" He murmured, too close to her lips.

"Because I love you you stupid fool!"

And then she leaned up and kissed him for the second time this week.


	12. Chapter 12: Anticipating

**Chapter Twelve: Anticipating **

_You know that feeling, when everything seems so out of control you just know what you have to do? Almost like autopilot, where you just let go and your body takes care of the rest. Well, that's how I was feeling, and I'll admit, I wasn't feeling that bad about it._

_I knew in my heart that I wouldn't regret this before the first sock was even shed. I wanted to be set free, and this man, this complicated, dangerous, was helping me to do just that. And I wasn't scared. I couldn't feel anything. And so I grabbed on tight to his muscled shoulders and allowed him to carry me back to his room._

_Panting._

"That was..."

_Heat beating._

"...Great."

_We collapsed together in a tangled heap, our bodies intertwined like they were always meant to be. _

_There was nothing awkward about it. We were peaceful together, happy. _

_I wanted to stay that way forever. My confusion was gone. My fear was a thing of the past._

_What would I do now? How could I just go back? People were bound to have gotten the news from John. _

_John. My agent. Was he worried about me? He should be. He's more to me than my agent. He's my family. We're both Gilberts. Distantly related of course, but kin nonetheless._

_What would happen when I went back? How would I keep the tears from falling when they asked me what had happened? How would I explain that I had been taken by a vampire pretending to be enamored with me to catch another vampire _really_ enamored with me?_

_What if I break, and I cannot perform anymore. _

_No one will want me then. Not even Jenna. _

_But, at least I have this moment. This one, single moment where I snuggle into Damon's chest and let me worries drift away._

* * *

Swivel chairs. Alaric Saltzman never really got the concept, really. I mean, isn't a chair supposed to offer support and stability? Twisting and turning all around is hardly that. And besides, they are so easy to tip over...

"Alaric! What on God's earth are you doing? Get up!"

It had been like this all day, back and forth between them. This was the fourth morning that their superstar had been missing. They knew the odds. 72 hours without the victim found and they were as good as gone. Well, three days had certainly passed. Tips had been pouring in. None of them were legit, though.

None of them had led them to Elena Gilbert. One women had thought that she had seen Elena at a convienece store in Alaska. Dead end there. The women had turned out to be a petitioner trying to raise awareness for some stupid group cause down there. She had thought that if she could get some light shed on the town via the newspapers that more people would come to support.

The other big lead they had had turned out to be much of the same thing. Some guy was higher than a horse when he called the FBI to turn himself in for killing Elena and "chopping her body into itty bitty pieces."

People were real crazy these days.

Anyways, they had been working this morning on organizing a brand new search party for their MIA pop singer. It was going to be huge. They had already been talking with The Center For Missing and Exploited Children and they had agreed to join forces to fund a nation wide tour called "Bring Her Home." The tour would consist of a mix between professional paid searchers and volunteer searchers in several busses that would check out leads about Elena, search for clues about her dissapearance, and ultimately find the damn girl.

John only had so much patience about this matter, but it helped that they were able to promote Elena ten fold during her absence. Maybe he should stage kidnappings for any future clients who were having a tough time breaking in to the industry. Well, he doubted that would work as well. Part of the reason that people had been so worried about Elena was because she was.. well.. her.

Elena Gilbert was incredibly kind and good natured for such a star. She had a positive attitude and adored her fans. Because of that, they adored her right back, and were very apparently worried about her.

Back on topic, after the "Bring Her Home" tour bus "located" Elena, the group would continue to search for other missing children. Well, a smaller version of the group, that is, a much smaller version. They wouldn't be getting nearly as many volunteers for regular folks, and The Center didn't want to pay for the startling number of professional searchers that they were at the moment.

Yes. Everyone was focused on getting Elena home safe and sound. Except of course, the person who took her.

* * *

"Damon? Where'd you go?" Elena called out into the dimly lit hallway of his penthouse. It was approximately.. "who knows" AM, and she had just woken up from a hard nights work with Damon, if you catch the drift.

He called back to her almost immediately.

"I'm here! Just making some breakfast."

Elena hurried to the kitchen when she began to smell the cinnamon and sugar in the air.

She was feeling intense Deja Vu, but tried her best not to think about her other experiences here. Blocking out the broken furniture in the distance, she sat down at the bar and happily excepted a plate from him.

This time, there was smoked salmon from before, which she had absolutely loved but had been too mad to admit. Along with it there was french toast, fruit and some yummy looking yogurt. Perfectly balanced health, just like she liked it.

A sleepy person's dream.

Damon flashed her a million dollar smile as he wiped his hands on a dishcloth and joined her with his own plate.

"So.. how'd you sleep?" It was obviously a joke. The two of them didn't get any sleep the night before. They had rounds two, three, four and eight.

Elena smiled back amicably.

"Was I supposed to fall asleep before or after you..." He cut her off.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault you don't like wipped cream."

Elena hit his arm affectionately.

"I like wipped cream just fine, thank you! I just don't like it all over my..."

They laughed together in utter harmony and continued like that for the next twenty minutes or so before they threw their dishes in the sink lazily and went to the living room to watch some TV.

At the back of her mind, though, Elena couldn't help but think about Stefan. She was still shaken from this whole ordeal, and she wasn't convincing anyone of the opposite. It was very obvious what she was really feeling, but she kept pushing it down. She didn't want to think about later or before or anything but the present. She was happy now. And it was deranged and horrible that she could feel this way with someone that she'd gotten to know through very questionable terms, but she pushed all of those thoughts back down, too.

No one can make someone else feel something they don't want to. But was it really possible for Elena to have such strong feelings all of a sudden? Or was something else more sinister happening to her mind?


	13. Chapter 13: Gimme More

**_C_hapter Thirteen: Gimme More**

The next few days were blissful. Elena Gilbert didn't think for a minute about her career or her life or even herself. Her thoughts were consumed by nothingness, and in that nothingness lay Damon. He washer every moment. Her time with him was teetering on something much more than she ever considered when she kissed him that second time. She was slowly but surly falling for him harder every day, and the only person against was the one that you would least expect.

She never even thought about what hadhappened to Stefan anymore. It had been three days since Damon had made her breakfast after their first night "together," and since then his name hadn't even passed through her mind. Maybe it was Damon's reassuring presence, or her giddiness at just living in the moment, but she had a strange sort of closure about the incident with Stefan. At the back of her mind, deep deep down, she wondered where he was and what had happened, but that was pure curiosity speaking. After all, she was never alone long enough to think about it.

Every second of the past three days Damon had been distracting her, enticing her, and entertaining her. He cooked for her every meal, and she wondered when he would run out of provisions. It wasn't as if they two of them could go hold hands in the ketchup aisle of the town grocery store. Damon had finally revealed where they were. Chicago. Imagine that, right in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world. She no longer desired to be found. She only wanted Damon.

"Elena! Deja Vu is on in an hour. You joining me?" Damon called from his bedroom.

Elena was reclining on the living room couch, where the spot that the broken coffee table once stood was empty. Damon had cleaned up the mess a couple days ago, and had put off getting new furniture until they had figured out exactly what they were doing together. Neither of them really planned on thinking about that, either. They didn't want to think or it would break what they had, ruin their moment.

The brunette called back eagerly.

"Of course! When are you making the pizza?"

And so they continued.

* * *

"I can't believe what you're telling me."

Janice Rogers. An agent on the missing case of the international superstar Elena Gilbert. She had gotten a call from a crime scene investigator studying the evidence taken from the abduction crime scene.

"Yeah, we have a sure lead. It's shocking, actually. It looks like the paper we found was placed there in the rubble. Intentionally."

The crime scene investigators had found something important.

Evidence

"So the guy left a trail. You think it'll lead us back to him?"

"Definitely."

* * *

Jenna Sommers hiccuped loudly as she made her morning coffee. She had slept horribly the night before, and now that she thought about it, the night before that, too. Something was bothering her, and she couldn't figure out what it was. The house was so empty without Elena, and Jenna couldn't help but to think about Jeremy and her brother as well. She missed Jeremy and his parents every single day, but the one person that she still had was Elena.

She clumsily poured her coffee in the heart covered mug her niece had gotten her and reached to wipe up the spill. She could hardly keep her eyes open, frankly. She knew that she would have to figure out what was bothering her or she would go insane. Throwing the wet paper towel in the trash, she got newspaper out and sat down at the table with her drink.

Jenna thought briefly of what she would do that night to relax, maybe run a bath or light some candles. While she drank, the caption on the newspaper in front of her caught her eye and she nearly dropped the mug. The hot coffee spilled all over her blouse and she screamed through the burns. She threw the porcelain cup on the ground and falling from her chair, collapsed into a heap. She franticly rubbed her skin to soothe the pain and tears fell from her eyes.

Until a couple of seconds ago, Jenna hadn't known where Elena was. Her brain was just so foggy, she couldn't think straight about anything. She vaguely remembered seeing her somewhere a short while ago but beyond that, she was clueless. All she had known was that she was safe. Those words just kept repeating in her brain like a broken record. 'Elena isn't here but she is safe, Elena isn't here but she is safe; Elena isn't here but she is safe.'

Reaching the sink, Jenna grabbed a wad of towels and wet them before pressing them to her chest and stomach. She bit her lip against the pain and limped to her purse to get her keys. Her injuries would just have to wait.

The headline of the newspaper has said something shocking, and she wasn't about to wait around to investigate it.

* * *

"911, what is your emergency?"

"I know where Elena Gilbert is."


	14. Chapter 14: Born to Make You Happy

**Chapter 14: Born to Make You Happy**

The tires on Jenna's ancient red Toyota squealed sharply against the road as she weaved in and out of the heavy traffic. Her brain was processing the information she had read in the article that morning, and she didn't like what she was remembering. The cars around her came to a gradual stop as the stoplight flashed to a demanding red, but Jenna hardly cast a second glance as she speed through the ongoing ruckus. Boutique shops and small buildings alike disappeared behind her as went further and further from her small town of Mystic Falls. The information that she had would be as good as useless to the local sheriff, and she needed to get to the airport as quickly as possible. Briefly her mind toyed with the idea of calling the local police there. She knew that they would be able to get there faster than her, but she also knew they wouldn't be able to make an arrest. No, even the Chicago law enforcement wouldn't stand a chance against that _thing_ that had Elena. She had seen him with her own eyes. He was dangerous. Jenna weaved her way into a nearby driveway and slammed foot down on the breaks. She was near the highway now, and she needed to start working before she got to the airport. Pulling out the bag she had fastened in the passenger seat, she dug around for some supplies she would need along the ride. Simple things, like holy water, crosses and garlic. She stuffed napkins from the glove compartment into the bag, attempting to hide the contents from the airport screeners. As she zipped the bag shut and repositioned it on the seat, a strong pain shook through her like a tidal wave. She had no time to dwell on it, or the burning in her veins. Jenna had to get a move on, and she knew exactly where she was going. Chicago.

* * *

"Looks like another pleasant day for a swim," Damon remarked as he smiled down at her from his position at the window.

Elena rolled over sleepily, not wanting to be disturbed.

"Oh, come on sleepy! This is a perfect day, you can't honestly expect me to let you spend it in bed."

A low mumble emanated from beneath Elena's cocoon of covers.

Damon sighed and began pulling out chest drawers from around the room. He selected swim suits for the both of them and then made his way into the bathroom.

"Okay," he called amusedly, "I guess I'll just take a morning shower all by my lonesome self."

Upon hearing this, the formerly drowsy Elena launched out of the covers and followed Damon into the vast marble bathroom with a grin.

Damon smirked at her knowingly and pulled her into his arms for a deep kiss. Elena took this opportunity to kick the door closed behind them and broke apart long enough to peel off her pajama set, throwing the layers of lavender satin in a pile by the door.

"Good morning," she breathed seductively.

"Good morning to you, too." Damon winked before he begun to set the dials on his shower and Elena rocked back and forth in nervous excitement.

She loved this stupid shower. It was beyond scary the first time she had tried it, but now it was her new favorite device in the house, besides Damon of course. Money could buy almost anything, and Elena was sure that this thing had cost a fortune. It was like shower that could be plugged to fill up like bath, with countless shower heads and massage features all around the board. Even better, with Damon there the ride was even more exciting. They had made it a habit lately to shower together, and she loved every minute of it. Stepping in behind Damon, she felt her restlessness dissolve and leaned forward into his embrace, the soothing water oozing over them like molten lava.

* * *

Janice Rogers paced slowly back and forth in her vast office. Eyes shut tight, she began to piece together all of the information she had thus far regarding the kidnapping of America's most beloved superstar. The absence of a ransom note this long into the investigation was concerning, and considering that the kidnapper had never attempted to make contact with the police or any of Elena Gilbert's representatives was bad news as well. That only served to solidify that the motive was not money or fame. If it had been a serial killer, certainly the local newspapers would have already begun to receive sick photographs depicting a fingerless Elena, coupled with notes that demanded to be a front page story. Janice had seen all of this before. But never had she seen a case quite so peculiar as this one.

Something had to give, and she was going to find out exactly what.

Lost in thought, she almost missed the phone chiming away in the background, but she snapped out of her daze quickly enough to answer it as the last rings sounded.

"Agent Rogers, FBI."

"Hello? Agent Rogers, we have a situation down at the station. A 911 call came through last night with information that could lead to the possible arrest of a certain male suspect living on the north side of Chicago. We have reason to believe that this man is responsible for the kidnapping of Elena Gilbert."

"The Gilbert case? What makes this call so different than the others we have received? How do we know that this isn't just another bored psycho?"

"We, uh, we got an email from the caller. That's how we tracked the I.P address to Illinois. There was a photo attached of Miss. Gilbert. She was... um..."

"Spit it out, Detective."

"Well, the female in the picture that we have identified as Miss. Gilbert was in horrible condition. Chained up, bleeding, and soaking wet. It's horrible really, like the guy dumped a bucket of ice water on her or something."

Janice considered this. It sounded like a sure lead, but something was amiss. Why would this surface now? What did the guy want?

"Send me the phone recording and a forward of that email. This could definitely be something, Detective. I'll get back to you."

She hung up the phone with resolve and leaned back into her chair, breathing deeply. Was this really the sociopath that had taken the pop superstar? Minutes passed and she heard a familiar chime from her laptop. Opening the window, her eyes glazed over the screen. One new email. She closed her eyes and clicked it open.

* * *

Jenna gazed out the window, looking down through the clouds. She thought about what she would do when the plan landed. Which cab company would be the fastest and what route to take to her destination. She didn't see the woman come up behind her with the refreshment cart. Didn't notice the flight attendant glaring at her with a deadly expression. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder and warm breath at her neck. She gazed up with a shocked expression as she met the attendant's eyes.

The women cast a glance around the plan before returning her look to Jenna and whispering softly into her ear.

"I know who you are."


	15. Chapter 15: Break The Ice

**Chapter Fifteen: Break The Ice**

_Dear Diary,_

_I've tried for the longest time to make sense of all that has happened to me. Nothing feels right, but somehow I just can't put my finger on it. You know how it feels when you're just waking up from a bad dream, and you're afraid to go back to sleep? That's sort of how I feel. There's a part of me that's been ripped away, and I'm bleeding and suffocating inside of myself. That if I go back to sleep, I'll remember all that I've been blessed enough to forget. That's the thing about nightmares; sometimes we can't remember what they were even about... what was even frightening us. But we know how scared we were, and that's enough. That fear is enough to shake us down and knock us out and hold us there, shivering, without even really knowing why we're even scared at all..._

Freeze! FBI! Freeze! You have the right to remain silent, you…"

The door broke off of its hinges then, cracking slightly in the middle before falling to the ground. The dark blue jackets were a giveaway. The yellow block lettering was even clearer. _Why do they yell that_? she asked herself. Men of all ages, heights, and sizes came barreling through, shouting and ordering one another around and running through all of the doorways around her. She thought she saw two go up the stairs, but she couldn't quite focus clearly.

Guns were drawn all around her, and flashlights were slowly being put back into the belts of some of the men around her as they went around flipping on the lights.

Then a dark-haired, kindred looking woman approached her, stepping out from behind a circle of the armed men standing in front of the ruined door. Elena couldn't help herself.

She started laughing.

Then woman approached her tentatively, concerned and unsurprised by the hysterics she was greeted by. Her hair was pulled back into a short, tight ponytail.

"Elena, you are going to be okay," she said softly.

She was close now; her hands were out in front of her warily, and Elena still kept laughing.

What? Did they expect her to just fly into their arms? Of course; everyone wants to be the hero.

She felt strong arms grasp hers gently, and suddenly she felt like wrenching away. "Elena," she whispered again. "You're safe now. We're here to take you home." _Home_. Elena met the woman's eyes. They were hard and kind looking- stern and maternal all at once. A no-nonsense type of authority figure who had the side of good ingrained inside of her. Elena liked the look of her; she liked the truth in her eyes. But she didn't like what was happening to her. She didn't like what she'd become.

"Where were you?"

The question had come from Elena, but it didn't feel like she was asking anyone in particular. She was just speaking to the room, speaking to the sky. Asking the universe why horrible cruelty could exist in a world that pretended and tried so hard to be good.

Suddenly the laughter that had been so powerful before began to wane, and the giggling erupted into sobbing. Huge, bitter sobs that shook her entire being, rocking her from her perch on the couch, shaking her from the inside out.

Elena thought she heard the woman consoling her, whispering sweet nothings meant to soothe, and then introducing herself, but she wasn't really listening.

The dark-haired woman pulled a syringe from the hands of a person behind her, and Elena vaguely acknowledged the stretch behind her. A gurney.

"Elena. Shhh, everything is okay now." Her hands were working deftly, clinically, tapping the side of the plastic shot and releasing the air. "We're going to make sure you're healthy and you can see your family. Everything is going to-"

The crying did not abate. When she felt the needle in her arm, she didn't even flinch. Nothing could hurt her now. Why did everything have to always come back to this? Everything always seemed to come back to hospitals and doctors and people who thought they were helping, but really weren't.

Elena could hear, but she couldn't listen. Nothing would be OK. So why did everyone say that in the face of brutal, crushing tragedy?

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

At first, she'd had a plan. She'd known what she was going to do… what she was going to say… how she'd look, act, behave.

Then something went wrong.

She just couldn't stop shaking. And the doctors had kept her for observation another night.

From some part of her mind, she knew she shouldn't tell them everything. She knew they'd think she was crazy.

But they wouldn't let _anyone_ see her. Only doctors and nurses and sterile-looking people had been around her at first. Then there were the big men in suits who looked nothing like her own security personnel. They followed her to the bathroom and stood outside the door. And the talking was so… controlled. No one wanted to say anything to her, tell her anything that she could use. That would matter. Like where Aunt Jenna was, and if she was coming to see her.

Elena asked if she was in the same hospital as Jeremy or if she wasn't in Virginia at all, but some other big city. The men had just smiled gently at her and stayed silent. Like she couldn't be trusted with the truth in her unstable, emotionally unpredictable state.

Then, that morning, she was allowed out of her hospital room- and into an office down the corridor where several police officers were waiting for her. At least, she thought they were police. They were probably federal level detectives, but that hardly mattered. They were plain clothed, for one thing, and for another they were men.

She was SO NOT about to sit and chat with them in a little hospital gown. Oh, no. This wasn't social time, and anyone who thought it was could do something highly inappropriate with that information and their backside.

But she didn't say so. She just asked politely to change, and they let her. Except the clothes the nurse brought her weren't her own, and she began to feel so deflated.

Where was everyone? Where were all the people who were familiar to her? Why was she so alone?

Elena had been speaking with the same man for the past three hours. No one else had been in or out of the room, despite her repeated demands for her lawyer. _Missing persons cases aren't treated this way_, she thought to herself. Were they?

The man was staring at her intently, too intently for a victim.

Was she a criminal now? Did they think she was guilty of something?

He leaned back in the threadbare green chair. It was one of those big rolling ones with wheels on the bottom. She found it easier to simply fix her eyes on the empty pencil holder and doodled-on stationary on the desk than to meet his eyes.

"Miss. Gilbert-" he started to say, then stopped again.

This had been happening throughout the whole session. It was beginning to bother Elena.

She glanced up at the clock; the small hand wasn't moving.

The other two men had left when she returned with her borrowed green dress. It was two sizes two large for her- and Elena guessed it belonged to the one of the nurses or that they had brought it up from the gift shop downstairs. Either way, it was very soft and comfortable, it came down below her knees, and the neckline was high. That was all that mattered to Elena now: covering up.

She wanted to drown in her own shame, but if she couldn't, the least she could do it hide it away.

"I-" the man stopped again.

This was getting ridiculous. His gaze on her was unwavering yet cautious.

Whatever he had to say, she wished he'd just spit it out already.

But he didn't. They say in silence for another six minutes before he tried to speak again.

Elena thought about asking to speak with the men who had left- maybe they'd be more competent- but she was frankly didn't care enough. There's a point a person reaches were nothing matters anymore. She wasn't about to just go serve herself up on a platter for questioning. She'd rather sit in silence with an incompetent idiot.

"Elena, are you aware of what happened to you?"

His question shocked her into looking up. When she met his eyes, they were uncertain.

He continued. "There is a point where when must ask you to discuss with us what you can."

"You want me to tell you what happened to me." She wasn't asking, she was making a statement.

He nodded, releasing the pen he'd been tapping. It dropped to the desk and stilled.

"We are still looking for your attacker, I can assure you. We just have a lot of questions that need answers."

Elena took a deep breath. "I don't know what you want to hear. I've asked again and again for my lawyer or my family. I'm only seventeen; I can't be questioned without one of them."

Surely she wasn't a suspect in her own disappearance! She hadn't committed any crimes while she'd been _kidnapped_, for goodness's sake.

Yet the man reclaimed his writing utensil and began tapping his pen on the wooden desk in front of him AGAIN, the dull thuds emanating dully throughout the quiet room.

"This isn't a civil questioning, Miss. Gilbert. This is a criminal investigation at the federal level. There are a lot of odd things going on here. A lot of questions that don't have answers. Things are… off in this investigation. You do understand then, don't you, why we need all that we can possibly be informed with."

Elena nodded absently, a lump rising in her throat.

She tried at first. She tried _so_ hard to get through it, but she couldn't. She couldn't explain without explaining EVERYTHING, at by that point, her credibility began to wane in the eyes of the man in front of her.

He began to nod pityingly, beseechingly. He began to act sympathetically toward her. To see her as the victim that everyone seemed to think she was.

"Elena," he said finally. "I understand that you are a very high-profile young lady."

"Yes," she whispered.

"Then you must realize that the nature of your story isn't a very realistic one."

Her eyes flickered beneath her long lashes. "I understand."

"W-would you stop that?" she asked breathlessly, gesturing toward his pen and raising her other hand to her throbbing temple.

"Of course." The tapping stopped again and Elena took another deep breath.

"I know it doesn't sound truthful. I know what you probably think of me, sitting her, telling you this. You think I'm a lunatic," she said, and she tied the belt around her borrowed dress tighter. The red floral print was so cartoonish- it was so silly looking for such a serious conversation.

"I don't-" he began, but she stopped him.

"Yes. Yes, you do. And it's okay." Elena liked her lips and averted her gaze as tears began to spring up beneath her eyes.

"It's OK that no one around her will believe me and that I didn't get a lawyer, and it's okay that I'm not even wearing my own damn underwear and that I've been herded like a sheep all my life. You know what, though? It's NOT okay what happened to me, and it's NOT okay that you aren't doing anything about it.'"

She thought she saw the man blushing a little, but she couldn't be sure. The redness was gone before she could know whether it had even been there at all.

Elena kept going, heedless of his attempts to calm her and interrupt her furious monologue.

"I'm not going to be passive and just let these things happen to me. I know who I am. I know what I've done, where I've been, what's happened to me. But YOU haven't said one word about what you know, about where YOU'VE been, about why no one rescued me sooner. YOU have that to answer to and-"

"Enough," he said.

But it wasn't enough. Not for Elena. Not for anyone who'd been abused and beaten and used like she had. It was never enough. It was NEVER OKAY.

"NO." She stood up defiantly, gritting her teeth and shaking a finger in front of his face warningly. "No, I'm not done. I want to know why I'm being treated like a chemical outbreak victim. Why I'm being sectioned off and ignored and overlooked. Don't you know who I am? I'm ELENA freaking GILBERT. I want to know what everyone around here is keeping from me."

The man had stopped staring at her with such intensity. He'd stopped looking at her sympathetically. Now he just looked nervous.

"Well, I suppose it would be best to wait until you're feeling a little calmer…"

"CALMER?" Elena knew her voice was getting progressively louder. She didn't care if the men standing outside the door came and took her out. She didn't care at all. She wanted it, even. She wanted to smack someone silly. If not this man, then one of them would do.

She began to laugh lowly. It was a mean laugh, filled to the brim with malice.

"I get it. You want me to tell you every last horrifying and traumatic thing I've been through- draw you a pretty picture of every torturous, hideous act and event and experience I've been through- and you want to tell me NOTHING."

He swallowed visibly, glancing at the door to his left as though it would protect him.

She advanced on him, leaning over the desk and snatching the pen he'd picked back up right out of his hands. She threw it across the room violently and it smacked loudly against the glass of office room.

He kicked back against the desk, the wheels spinning, and hurried from his chair before Elena could grip his shirt in her hands and pull him toward her.

"I'll have Janice Rogers come in to speak with you," he blurted out before squeezing through the door and hastily escaping.

Elena panted as the energy coursed through her. She couldn't handle this back and forth, up and down sort of headache. She needed something to get away from it all.

Twenty minutes later, the woman who'd come and put her to sleep her at... well, it was the dark-haired woman, anyway, and she came in, closing the door behind her gently.

"Are you going to tell me the truth?" Elena wanted to know this. She _needed_ to know this.

The woman just sat down in the vacant green chair and nodded.

"You know something? I've never wanted something more in my life."

There was a moment of quiet as this sank in around the room. It was Detective Rogers who broke it first, calmly responding to the left-field comment.

"To put this behind you?" she asked.

Elena shook her head. "No. To be insane. To pretend that nothing that happened was real- even though I know that everything was." She paused to think, going over her thoughts before saying them. "I don't want to be normal. It would make this a lot easier."

Detective Rogers reached across and put her hand on Elena's over the table. She let her, and they stayed that way for a long time. The woman's hand was small and dry and slightly sweaty, but Elena didn't move away. She needed reassurance and she didn't care where it came from.

"Elena, you've been through a horrendous ordeal; it's only natural for you to feel this way. There are some wonderful counselors your handlers have lined up for you, if you're ready to see them."

"No," she said again.

Janice Rogers cocked her head.

"No. I just want to go home. _Now_."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

_I can't watch the news. I'd see my own face. Hear my own voice. See my own story._

_They said it was erotomania._

_That he was just fixated on a celebrity. That he was wild and insane and delirious. That he'd been planning on holding me for ransom because he didn't actually even know what he wanted._

_They told me that he was delusional. They explained everything they could about what it means to be an insomniac, which I guess is what I am now, 'cus I can't sleep at night when I close my eyes tight and try to drift away. I hear a voice in my head, whispering to me. Telling me to do things that I would never want to do, telling me about things I would never want to hear. . . my hands are shaking as write this. Some of my tea just split on my comforter. I'm back home now; it's been an eternity since I've bundled up beneath my own blankets. _

_I find myself here a lot lately. Just bundled, never asleep. Aunt Jenna comes up sometimes to talk to me, but every time she starts to say something, her voice catches and then she stops and closes the door and walks back downstairs._

_It feels so strange. Everything seems so real and unreal at once._

_I guess I'm delusional, too. They said they found strange and unprecedented traces of opiates in my blood. They must've tested it while I was unconscious because I never even saw them draw it. But they had a bunch of little vials with red and yellow tops and lots of doctors came in to talk to Aunt Jenna about the results of the lab tests. He'd been drugging me is what they said. That everything I'd witnessed is unreliable and that my time is unaccounted for and nothing I really say is credible to their investigation. 'Cus that's what it is... a criminal investigation. I was completely alone in that room they found me in. There was no evidence that anyone else had even been there. Everything I told them about later . . . everything I tried to describe, didn't add up with what the police had found there. I accidentally saw the newspaper Jenna was reading one day because I walked downstairs to refill my mug and she'd left it there on the table. Nothing makes sense. Nothing is right. _

_There's something wrong. It's so wrong I can feel the unfairness of it all pounding through my veins. I can heard it in my bones and smell it in my heart. I know that doesn't make any sense at all... but what does? Aunt Jenna told me she'd been worried sick about me all this time, hoping against all hope that I'd be returned to her safe and sound. Then, it appeared a random bystander heard my voice from the room... the room I suppose I was rescued from... and called the police and my missing persons phone line to report it. Except, I don't remember some things. What I told the police about… what my life was like when it was actually normal._

_Normal. There's a funny word. Is there anything in the world that's normal?_

_Photographers are lined up around the block; reporters are camped out on my front porch. I can hear them screaming and chanting and talking to me no matter what I do. Jenna said that there was security down there to keep them back for the most part or I'm sure they'd try to climb in through the windows._

_They're that wild for a story._

_Well, they'll get one soon enough, I suppose. Once the label figures out what I'm planning to do they'll stop paying for my security forever. John and Alaric will be furious, naturally. I've already lost my cell phone, though. They've tried coming to the house, but so far I am safe from any company at all. Jenna said I didn't have to talk to anyone for weeks if I didn't want to. I told her I didn't want to talk to anyone ever again._

_The thing is, I'm not going to go back to music. Not ever. Everyone keeps telling me that I'm OK now, that everything will be OK. But it wont. Nothing will ever be OK again, and I'm sick of people telling me that it will. Once my contract is up, I'm not going to set foot in a recording studio or a dance room or a vocal coach's office or ANYTHING. I'm no longer for sale. My self worth is more important to me than a dollar sign, and I know my parents would have wanted me to know that._

_All that has to happen now is for my lawyer to confirm I'm off the hook, and I no longer have any further sales or promotional obligations to anyone. I'm going to lay here in bed and think about everything that has gone wrong and how bad it sucks. I'm going to dig a hole and lie in it for as long as I so please, because I'm so tired of being hauled around and treated like a toy for everyone else's benefit but my own._

_Most of all, I'm glad. I'm glad that I've finally been given an opportunity to escape the confines of my life. And I'm even more hopeful that this newfound realization will enable me to find closure in what is to unfold. I'm Elena Gilbert. I'm a star. But sometimes I think I would be better off without any of this… without living at all. Now that there is no one relying on me for their paycheck or pressuring me for their validation or using me for what I can do or give to them, I've realized how devoid and empty my life really is._

_Nothing matters. Nothing. And nothing will ever be OK again. So right now, I'm going to pull the covers over my head and just think. Just lie here, knowing I won't sleep. Because when I pull the covers back again, and I eventually have to, everything is going to be just as it was when I first covered up._

_That's what life is. Existing and wondering if maybe things would be different if we all weren't so obsessed with finding ways to distract ourselves from . . ._

_I guess, from us._

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and followed both this story and me as an author on this site from day one. It's been almost three years now since I started Obsessions & The Dangers of Fame and I am so glad to have been on this wacko mental ride, and to say that I have finally written the epilogue to finish this insanity of a plot. I don't actually write for TVD that much anymore, so I'm not sure what will happen with that in the future, but I'm sincerely thankful to be able to give this story the closure and finality that it deserves. If any of you are still reading this story, please leave a review to tell me what you think!**_

_**~KaterinaPetrova**_


	16. Chapter 16: Out From Under

**Chapter 16: Out From Under**

A/N: Okay, Okay, Okay- I hear ya, guys. I'm planning to write another chapter after this one which is background. Character stuff will be next, so if I get at least 10 reviews for this chapter, I can update this week!**  
~~~~~~~~~~~**

_**CELEB Central** ~ July 24 2011_

The HOLLYWOOD Obsession  
written by: Caroline Forbes

It's been two weeks since the disappearance of pop-sensation Elena Gilbert and only three days since her safe return. Already fans are flocking to her family home in Mystic Falls, Virgina, where she has been released after an intensive hospitalization.

Reports from the New York City Police Department indicate that an anonymous phone call led detectives to a penthouse apartment owned by Charlie Rogers, who police say is an alias that has sprung up dead ends all across the board. None of the identifying information Elena Gilbert provided could be verified by the detectives as reports have come in that she was being given mind-altering substances in captivity. The landlord of the building was also approached by law enforcement and gave conflicting statements.

None of the detectives or federal agents assigned to the case could be reached for comment. CELEB Central has reached out to those responsible for management of Elena Gilbert, but due to the pending breach of contract lawsuit they have taken out against the aforementioned defendant, they are unable to release a statement as this time.

Fans had written to her tirelessly during her absence and even more profusely upon news of her location.

There are still some very puzzling factors in this case which mimic those dealing with many well-known stalking victims and their pursuers.

Isobel Flemming, a scientist and microbiologist working for the USA federal testing lab assigned to Elena's case, had reported that the fingerprints found at the scene of Elena Gilbert's abduction did not match any criminal registered in the system. There is virtually no information whatsoever available to the criminal detectives that may aid them in identifying, apprehending and arresting her attacker. Another head-scratching aspect of this case is the condition that the apartment Elena was being kept at was found in by FBI. Apparently, the entire area was outfitted in advanced security systems and extreme measures were taken in the reinforcement of the internal structure to prevent escape. Elena was found alone in the penthouse and there was no evidence that anyone else had ever been there at all. Who alerted authority as to Elena Gilbert's whereabouts? Do they have any link to the criminal responsible?

Perhaps the most disruptive consequence of this unsettling case is the fact that Elena's attacker is still at large and potentially waiting to strike again.

What does this mean for our nation and international concerns for child welfare? After all, Elena Gilbert is only seventeen years old and a dependent minor as observed by and of laws under all fifty states of the United States of America.

Perhaps the bigger question is this: What's with the obsession in our culture about celebrities and their lifestyles? These obsessions that lead to some of the sickest and deadliest attacks in documented history. . .

* * *

**Jerry's Transportation Services**  
_"You can count on us!"_

Monday, July 19 2011  
Invoice # 2379  
Customer ID: EG1

Description:

First class white charter two-tier buses

Cost Per Unit:

$23000

Amount:

5

Notes: We at Jerry's Transportation Services appreciate your business and would like to personally wish you the happiest of days this summer!

* * *

**_MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL_**  
**home of the cougar**

**Class of 2010**

Meela Howard  
Kasey Steinfield  
George Bailey  
Lance Griffith  
Edgar White  
Barisha Eincozwala  
Jonathan Mower  
_Elena Gilbert_  
Syndney White  
Jessica Lawrence  
Aida Wong  
Peter Fields  
Frank Stanley

* * *

**MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL**  
**home of the cougar**

**Class of 2007**

_Stefan Salvatore_

Started MFHS: 2006  
Ambition: Personal Protection Services at Sony Records  
Final Comment: "Nothing can keep us apart"  
Favorite Expression: Good things come to those who wait  
Best Achievement: Her

* * *

**Elena Gilbert Fan Club (EGFC)**

_Blog Post #2239 - 12 June 2011_

Assemble, fellow EG fans! We have been given a purpose here, and that purpose is to fight! Stand with me now and say it "We will find Elena Gilbert." Except, in order to do that, we have to all be willing to make a commitment. It wont be easy, but we know what happened now. Some of you (Ok-SluttiGal09) have been working extremely hard to collect evidence for our group. As the proud Fan Club Leader of EDFC, I am ready to reveal some startling information: We have pieced together the horrible tragedy of Elena's abduction . . . BY ALIENS. Yes, it's true. We know now that she has been beamed up to a planet not so far away that is building a new world: a world which needs a pop superstar just like any other one. The thing is, we know that Elena belongs here with us. So, if any of you will keep your eyes open for some crop circles tonight, we've had a wonderful tip from an anonymous member (Ok- Work_it_out_Mommy) that there will be activity tonight. Come one and come all to and let us stand together and find out favorite songstress! She has been taken from us unfairly and unjustly by the superhumans of the intergalactic universe, and we must get her back.

Sincerely,  
DaBiebsLovr2

* * *

**Gilbert vs Gilbert**

United States District Court  
Case No. 19340249 EDH AIW

ELENA GILBERT, an individual and citizen of Virginia

VS. Plaintiff,

JOHN GILBERT, an individual and citizen of California

COMPLAINT FOR:

1. BREACH OF WRITTEN CONTRACT;

_Article II: Now, therefore, in consideration of the mutual promises contained herein, the parties agree as follows:_

Services Artist agrees to record under Sony Records for a term exceeding (3) consecutive years as determined by the sole discretion of her management services including John P. Gilbert. Any and all deviations from this agreement will result in fines and potentially an estoppel order as pursued to every extent in the court of law.

2. INTENTIONAL INTERFERENCE WITH CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS;

_Article IX: In accordance with the above specified conditions, the Artist agrees to perform duties in addition to the promotion and fulfillment of recording obligations as stipulated, including but not limited to the following:_

Publicity In the event of slated interviews, press coverage and unforeseen exposure to the media in the following fields: radio, advertising, television, print, magazines, newspapers and all other areas which may intentionally seek out a statement, photo, or otherwise garnered usage of image, voice, product, or likeness from Artist, Artist agrees avoid making harsh, damaging, untrue, or slanderous and defaming statements about Sony Records, its partners and all associated realms of management, security, personal relations and correlating handlers.

3. BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY;

4. COMMON COUNT FOR SERVICES RENDERED (QUANTUM MERIT);

* * *

**_New York Police Department (NYPD) Notice of Case Dismissal_**

_The body of Bonnie Bennett, presumed to have been operating the vehicle Elena Gilbert disappeared from, has been recovered, found buried in a field three miles away from the site of the original crash. The cause of death was revealed to be blunt force injury and is no longer being investigated as a homicide. As for the rest of the missing persons, there is no word yet as to their whereabouts. The NYPD is currently filing paperwork to petition the missing persons' legal classification of 'presumed dead.'_

* * *

**Miss. Elena Gilbert**  
**194 Eastwood Rd**  
**Mystic Falls, Virginia 70249**

_I cannot go another day without saying this . . . writing this, thinking this._

He paused in his writing, staring down at the milky-white page and then sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. She didn't deserve this again. And so he slid the stationary back into the envelope and underneath his pillow once more. Another day, another night. Without her.


End file.
